New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Thursday debunked the “151 mg semen” theory in the Kolkata rape and murder case and told a lawyer to not rely on social media for arguments in court.

Chief Justice Chandrachud’s rebuttal came while he was heading the three-judge bench that was hearing a suo motu case regarding the 31-year-old doctor’s brutal rape and murder at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on August 9. 

During the hearing, one of the lawyers said that the PMR (post-mortem report) talks about 151 mg (milligram) of semen, it is in mL (milliliter).”

To this, Chief Justice Chandrachud replied, “Don’t confuse this. Don’t use social media to make arguments in court. We have specifically now the post-mortem report before us and we know what that 151 refers to. Let’s not use what we read on social media and make legal arguments on that basis.”

There were reports earlier that claimed that 150 mg of semen was found in the victim’s body, thereby suggesting gangrape. The source of this information was the petition filed by her family in the Calcutta High Court. 

Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal, however, had denied such reports.

“Someone said 150 gm semen is found. I don’t know where they have found this kind of Information. And it is circulating in media in all kinds of forms. People are tempted to believe it and they are trying to create confusion among the people,” Mr Goyal had told a press conference.

Supreme Court Raps Kolkata Police 

The Supreme Court also criticized Kolkata Police for their “extremely disturbing” delay in registering the case of a woman doctor who was raped and killed at RG Kar Hospital.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud, with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, questioned the 14-hour delay in filing the first information report (FIR), and the reasons behind it. 

It also scrutinized the sequence of events and timing of procedural formalities.

“Who was in touch with the principal of RG Kar Medical College? Why did he delay the FIR? What was the purpose?” the bench asked.

The Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of petitions relating to the rape and murder of a doctor at the state-run hospital. The victim, a postgraduate trainee doctor, was found dead in the seminar hall of the hospital on August 9. Medical examination has confirmed rape.

Kolkata Police arrested an accused, a civic volunteer named Sanjoy Roy, a day after the incident. However, days later, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), noting no significant progress in the city police’s probe.

The CBI is yet to make any arrests in the case.

Bengaluru:

The Karnataka government has convened a meeting with medical organisations here in the aftermath of the incident of the rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata, and announced the formation of a task force to ensure the safety of doctors.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has announced the formation of a task force to provide a report on the safety measures to be taken for doctors in the state.

The minister held a meeting on Tuesday at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru with office bearers of medical organisations and officials from the health department.

He emphasised the government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of the many women working in the medical sector.

Speaking after the meeting, the minister stated that the task force will be responsible for providing a report within a month on the measures to be taken for the safety of doctors, including the implementation of laws.

Senior officials from medical organisations and the health department will be part of the task force, he said.

The recent incident in Kolkata has drawn national attention and raised awareness about the insecurity and protection of women.

More than 50 per cent of those working in the medical field are women, and it is difficult for them to work in an atmosphere of fear, Minister Rao said.

He said that 10-12 different organisations participated in the meeting.

“Discussions were held on the safety of doctors and paramedical staff on duty. Suggestions were made to enhance security and take precautionary measures,” the minister said.

“There are several laws in place to protect doctors. An amendment has been introduced that provides for a punishment of 3-7 years for those who assault doctors. The existing law has been further strengthened, and a notification regarding this was issued yesterday,” he stated.

Doctors have suggested raising public awareness about these laws.

They have also recommended installing CCTV cameras in hospitals, providing wristbands, panic buttons, conducting regular inspections in coordination with the police department, and fast-tracking the resolution of cases, Mr Rao said.

Taking all these suggestions into consideration, the decision has been made to form a task force to provide a report on what measures need to be taken for the safety of doctors.

Future actions will be based on this report, said Dinesh Gundu Rao.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

Amid the ongoing investigation and protests following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, Durga Devi, mother-in-law of accused Sanjay Roy, suggested the involvement of more people in the crime as she said that Roy could not have done it alone.

Recounting her daughter’s experience with Roy while speaking to ANI on Monday, Durga Devi described the relationship as tense adding that Roy thrashed her daughter against which a police complaint was filed.

“My relations with him were very tense,” Durga Devi said, adding, “Initially, everything was good for 6 months. When she was 3 months pregnant, he caused a miscarriage. He thrashed her, and a police complaint was registered for the same. Following this, my daughter continued being ill, I bore all her expenses for medicines.”

“Sanjay was not good. Hang him or do whatever you want with him. I won’t speak about the crime. He could not have done it alone. He can’t do it alone,” she said.

The rape and murder of the trainee doctor have sparked widespread outrage and protests across various cities, with calls for justice and punishment for the accused. The Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the case, with a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud scheduled to hear today.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has received permission to conduct a polygraph test on the arrested accused, CBI sources said earlier.

On August 18, the CBI team examined and conducted 3D laser mapping in the emergency ward of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct an enquiry/investigation into the allegations of financial irregularities in R G Kar Hospital during the period between January 2021 till date.

According to a Home and Hill Affairs Department notification, the SIT will have the liberty to access any relevant document from govt departments and

private agencies required for expeditious completion of the enquiry. It further said that the SIT is directed to submit its first report to the State Government within a month from the date of its constitution.

The SIT will be headed by IG Pranav Kumar and will be assisted by Murshidabad Range DIG Waquar Reza, DIG in West Bengal CID Soma Das Mitra and Kolkata (Central) DC Indira Mukherjee.

The postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose reached Delhi on Monday night amid speculations that he may meet President Droupadi Murmu and senior leaders.

There have been massive protests in West Bengal and a strike by doctors across the country in the wake of the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and allegations of a botched probe and cover-up.  

The governor on Thursday visited the hospital and spoke to the agitating junior doctors, assuring them of justice.

Governor Bose is likely to meet President Murmu in Delhi on Tuesday.

Speaking during a Rakhi celebration programme at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata earlier in the day, where several women doctors and others tied rakhis around his wrists, Mr Bose pledged to support their efforts until the goal of a safer environment for women is achieved.

“In West Bengal, democracy is degenerating. This cannot go on,” Mr Bose said. He urged collective action to safeguard women, saying, “Today, we have to take a pledge to protect our daughters, sisters.”

Mr Bose emphasised the need for societal change, stating, “Our society should become a place where women feel happy and secure. We have failed in our mission to our sisters. This is the minimum a civilised society should do.” “My responsibility as a governor is to serve the people. I know the goal is far and the road is long, but the march is on. We will certainly reach our destination. I am with you, I am for you,” Governor Bose said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Health Ministry has allowed enhancement of security deployment by 25 per cent at all union government hospitals, official said, amid protests by resident doctors demanding a central law following the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital.

Officials said that apart from the standard security protocol, the deployment of marshals would also be approved based on individual demands by government hospitals after they conduct their security assessment.

Official sources, however, said bringing a central law based on the RG Kar case “will not make any huge difference” as the alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor at the Kolkata facility was not a case of patient-doctor violence.

Crimes and rapes are already covered under existing laws, they said.

They further said that 26 states and Union Territories including West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala have passed legislations to protect healthcare personnel. In all these states these offences are cognisable and non-bailable.

“So, bringing in an ordinance or even a Central law, that too based on the RG Kar case which was not a patient-doctor violence incident, will not make any huge difference,” an official source said.

They said they have held meetings with some Residents Doctors’ Associations and have explained these aspects to them too.

More so, a committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to look into various aspects of security and facilities at hospitals for residents like duty room, working hours and conditions, and canteen services.

“Hospitals being public facilities cannot be turned into a fortress. We have urged the doctors to call off their strike because patient care is getting affected,” an official source said.

The ongoing doctors’ strike in the national capital over the Kolkata incident completed a week on Sunday, causing difficulties for patients.

Doctors across the country have been demanding quick enactment of a special law to deal with violence against healthcare personnel and implementation of improved safety protocols within medical facilities to ensure a secure working environment for all medics.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “benign” intervention in realising their demands that includes a central law to check violence against healthcare personnel and declaring hospitals safe zones, like airports, with mandatory security entitlements.

Late Sunday, the resident doctors here announced that their strike will continue and decided to provide elective OPD services in around 36 specialities, including medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, ophthalmology and orthopedics, to patients outside Nirman Bhawan on Monday.

They said emergency services will continue as before at hospitals.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The Kolkata Police today summoned Trinamool Congress MP  Sukhendu Shekhar Ray for allegedly spreading misinformation about the details surrounding the brutal rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Mr Ray had claimed that a dog squad was sent to the crime scene three days after the body of the victim was found on August 9. 

“The information that the sniffer dog was sent after three days is completely wrong. A sniffer dog was sent twice on August 9 and then on 12. A notice has been sent to Shri Sukhendu Sekhar Roy,” the Kolkata Police said in a statement. 

The summons follows closely on the heels of the Kolkata Police issuing notices to actor-turned-politician and BJP leader Locket Chatterjee and two doctors – Kunal Sarkar and Subarno Goswami – over misinformation surrounding the incident. 

Read | BJP Leader, 2 Doctors Summoned Over ‘Fake News’ On Kolkata Rape-Murder

Mr Ray, 75, barely 12 hours ago, had raised serious questions about the conduct of the investigation and expressed his dissatisfaction with the handling of the case by calling for the custodial interrogation of both the former Principal of RG Kar Medical College, Dr Sandip Ghosh, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal.

“CBI must act fairly. Custodial interrogation of Ex Principal and Police Commissioner is a must to know who and why floated suicide story. Why wall of hall demolished, who patronised Roy to be so powerful, Why sniffer dog used after 3 days. 100s of such questions. Make them speak,” Mr Ray posted. 

The call for Commissioner Goyal’s interrogation has, however, not been universally accepted within the party. Kunal Ghosh, another prominent Trinamool leader, strongly opposed the demand.

READ | Should Kolkata Top Cop Be Interrogated? Trinamool Leaders Differ 

“I also demand justice in the RG Kar case but strongly oppose this demand regarding CP. After getting the information, he has tried his best. Personally, CP was doing his job, and the investigation was in a positive focus. This kind of post is unfortunate, that too from my senior leader,” Mr Ghosh said.

I also demand justice in RGKar case.
But strongly oppose this demand regarding CP. After got information He has tried his best. Personally CP was doing his job and investigation was in a positive focus. This kind of post is unfortunate, that too from my senior leader. https://t.co/quLVsUEXCd

— Kunal Ghosh (@KunalGhoshAgain) August 18, 2024

Mr Ray was one of the first TMC leaders to announce his participation in the nationwide midnight protest over the rape and murder. He made the announcement on X, expressing solidarity with the protesters.

“Tomorrow I am going to join the protesters, particularly because I have a daughter and little granddaughter like millions of Bengali families. We must rise to the occasion. Enough of cruelty against women. Let’s resist together. Come what may,” Mr Ray posted.

Mr Ray’s stance, however,  led to speculation about his position within the party. When questioned by a user on X about the potential consequences of his actions, including the possibility of being expelled from the Trinamool Congress, Mr Ray responded: “Please need not worry for my fate. Blood of a freedom fighter flows in my veins. I’m least bothered.”

Besides the Trinamool leader, the Kolkata Police sent notices to BJP’s Locket Chatterjee and two prominent doctors.

New Delhi:

Doctors have begun their 24-hour nationwide strike today in protest against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has declared a nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency health services for 24 hours beginning at 6 am, over a week after the horrific incident at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. They also condemned the subsequent vandalism on the campus.

#WATCH | Patna, Bihar: Indian Medical Association (IMA) announces nationwide strike over RG Kar Medical College rape & murder incident.

(Visuals from Patna AIIMS) pic.twitter.com/kmCr5pq0ZN

— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2024

All essential services will be maintained and casualties will be manned, the IMA said in a statement. The routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted.

The withdrawal is across all sectors, wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service, the top body of doctors said.

“The RG Kar incident has brought to the fore two dimensions of violence in the hospital: A crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women and the hooliganism that is unleashed due to lack of an organised security protocol,” it said.

“The crime and the vandalism have shocked the conscience of the nation. Today, both the medical fraternity and the nation are victims,” the statement added.

5 Demands Of Doctors On Nationwide Strike

The IMA has put forth five demands:

1. It wants a significant policy to address violence against doctors and hospitals. The doctors’ body is pushing for a Central Act that would incorporate the amendments made in 2023 to the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 into the proposed Hospital Protection Bill of 2019. This move, it said, would strengthen the existing legislation in 25 states. The IMA has suggested that an ordinance similar to the one enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic would be appropriate in this situation.
2. The IMA has also demanded that hospitals be declared safe zones with the first step being mandatory security entitlements. “The security protocols of all hospitals should be no less than (that of) an airport. Declaring the hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements is the first step. CCTVs, deployment of security personnel, and the protocols can follow,” it said in the statement.
3. The IMA has demanded a thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of resident doctors, including the 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces to take a rest.
4. The IMA has also called for a “meticulous and professional” investigation of the Kolkata horror in a specific time frame and rendering of justice besides identifying those involved in the vandalism of the hospital premises and awarding exemplary punishment.
5. The doctors’ body has also sought an appropriate and dignified compensation to the bereaved family commensurate with the cruelty inflicted.

The trainee doctor was raped and murdered last week inside a medical college in Kolkata where she worked, triggering nationwide protests among doctors. Anger at the failure of tough laws to deter a rising tide of violence against women has fuelled widespread protests by doctors and women’s groups across the country. 

New Delhi:

 A nationwide withdrawal of services has been announced by doctors of modern medicine starting from 6 am on Saturday, August 17 to 6 am Sunday, August 18, per the official statement released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday.

Notably, the strike has been called by IMA amid the ongoing protest in Kolkata over the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College.

In its official statement, IMA stated that routine OPDs and elective surgeries will not take place during those 24 hours; however, other essential services will be maintained.

“All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service. IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors,” the release stated.

The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) also announced a protest against the incident at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on August 16.

“To voice our protest against these acts, we (BMC MARD, IMA, IMA JDN, ASMI) are organising a peaceful protest at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on 16th August 2024 at 1 pm. We urge our fellow medical colleagues, doctors, medical students, resident doctors, senior doctors and other associations to join us in this protest against the injustice,” MARD stated in a press release.

Meanwhile, people from the Bengali film and television industry have also joined hands with protesting doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, which led to nationwide strikes and protests by the medical fraternity.

The incident triggered massive protests. On Wednesday, the protest ground and the hospital campus at RG Kar were vandalised by a mob, forcing the security personnel to disperse the crowd.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

OPD services in government hospitals of several states across the country remained affected on Tuesday as the resident doctors’ strike over the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee in Kolkata entered its second day, even as the CBI took over the investigation in the case.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), which called for a nationwide indefinite strike over the incident, on Tuesday night said it was calling off its strike as Union Health Minister J P Nadda has accepted their demands.

However, the medics at the central government-run AIIMS, the Indira Gandhi Hospital and other resident doctors’ associations, including the Federation of All India Medical Associations (FAIMA), said their stir would continue until a central law to curb attacks on medical personnel is implemented.

A delegation of FORDA met with Mr Nadda at his residence in New Delhi on Tuesday night.

FORDA said the decision to end the strike will be effective from Wednesday morning.

“A key outcome of the meeting was the health minister’s agreement to form a committee with FORDA’s involvement to work on the Central Protection Act. The ministry has assured that work on this will begin within the next 15 days,” the resident doctors’ body said in a statement.

In West Bengal, the epicentre of the protest, a widespread agitation by junior doctors crippled state healthcare services, with the functioning of even emergency and outdoor departments coming to a halt in most government hospitals.

Long queues of patients were seen at out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals since Tuesday morning as senior doctors were substituting their junior counterparts to address the rush.

In the national capital, elective services in government hospitals remained shut on Tuesday due to the ongoing strike.

On Tuesday, resident doctors in Maharashtra joined the indefinite strike. While all elective services in hospitals across the state have been halted, emergency services will continue uninterrupted, Maharashtra State Association of Residential Doctors (Central-MARD) president Dr Pratik Debaje told PTI.

“From 9 am, we stopped work at all OPDs (out-patient departments), and elective services have been stopped. Now, only emergency services are operational across the state,” Dr Debaje said.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the transfer of probe into the case from the Kolkata Police to the CBI.

While transferring the investigation to the CBI, a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam also urged agitating doctors to call off their cease-work, maintaining that there is a “pious obligation” on their part to treat patients who come to government hospitals.

After the high court’s direction, the CBI took over the investigation and a team of the central agency sleuths from Delhi, along with forensic scientists and medical experts, will visit Kolkata on Wednesday, officials said.

The direction was passed in the wake of a petition moved by the victim’s parents praying for a court-monitored probe and multiple other PILs seeking probe transfer to the CBI.

The interim order came five days after the gruesome incident that took place at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The body of the postgraduate trainee with severe injury marks all over was found inside the seminar hall of the state-run hospital’s chest department on Friday morning. The preliminary autopsy report suggested she was subjected to violent sexual assault.

Despite the Kolkata Police arresting a civic volunteer named Sanjay Roy in this connection on Saturday, the move failed to silence the clamour of allegations of a botched up investigation and evidence tampering which have now snowballed into an outrage of junior doctors spreading across medical campuses of the state and beyond.

In Uttar Pradesh, a doctors’ association has written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, pressing for improved security measures at medical institutions, even as medicos continued protests in the state over the incident.

The protests are being held for the second day in a row at different medical colleges in various cities of the state including Greater Noida, Varanasi, Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra, Gorakhpur besides state capital Lucknow.

However, emergency services continued to function at the medical colleges participating in the protests, a senior office-bearer of the state Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) told PTI.

In Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla, patients visiting the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital faced inconvenience due to a strike by resident doctors.

Several people, especially the elderly who had come from distant places, had to return from the premier state-run hospital without treatment.

“We have closed the OPDs to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a female doctor in Kolkata and demand justice for the victim,” S Sharma, a resident doctor at the IGMC hospital, said.

Doctors and students of Agartala Government Medical College staged a demonstration, demanding exemplary punishment for the guilty in the case.

In Jharkhand’s Ranchi, junior doctors at state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences started ‘pen-down’ agitation by boycotting OPD services and elective surgeries. However, they continued to attend emergency services at the premier hospital.

In Rajasthan, medical services at government facilities in Jaipur, including the largest state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, were affected as resident doctors went on a strike in protest against the Kolkata incident.

On Monday evening, the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) announced immediate suspension of non-essential services.

Meanwhile, the FORDA said it will continue its strike for a law to ensure the safety of healthcare workers.

In a post on X, the resident doctors’ body wrote, “No assurance on the Central Healthcare Protection Act–no call off– our demands remain incomplete.” “We will continue the strike until they are fully accepted,” it added.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) held a meeting with Union Health Minister J P Nadda to raise key issues affecting the medical community and gave him a memorandum of demands, which included declaration of hospitals as safe zones, introduction of a central law against violence, and security stipulations for medical college recognition.

According to Dr R V Asokan, National President of the IMA, Nadda agreed to consider the first two demands and accepted the demand for security stipulations for medical colleges.

The IMA’s call for improved working conditions and accommodation for resident doctors was also met with a favourable response from the minister, a statement said.

Meanwhile, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued an advisory for all medical colleges and institutions, urging them to develop a policy for a safe work environment within the college and hospital campuses for all the staff members, including faculty, students and resident doctors. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)