How tepid R G Kar rape-murder probe is paralysing hospital's key services

More than 18 months have passed since the brutal rape and murder of a junior woman doctor inside Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, yet many questions remain unanswered, even as the slow-paced investigation has almost paralysed the institute.

The 100-bed emergency department and the 15-bed hybrid critical care unit on the first floor of the state-run hospital emergency building continue to remain shut “in the interest of the investigation”.

Even the orthopaedic operation theatre’s storeroom remains locked.

Also read: A year after RG Kar horror, anger, discontent still on the boil

Expensive machines such as arthroscopes, autoclaves, and precision bone-cutting instruments lie unused. Doctors privately fear some equipment may already be damaged from disuse.

Hospital urges CBI for approval to reopen sections

According to the medical superintendent and vice principal of the institute, Dr Saptarshi Chattopadhyay, the hospital authorities sought permission from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to reopen these crucial sections, but there has been no positive response so far.

“As a result, patient load has been diverted, facilities are overstretched, and critical care capacity has been significantly reduced,” Dr Soumyadip Roy, spokesperson of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front, told The Federal.

The functional deadlock is taking a visible toll on patients and their attendants, a reality starkly reflected in the ordeal faced by Subhajit Mondal on Wednesday (February 18) morning.

Also read: Mamata govt goofed up, needn’t hurry now, says RG Kar victim’s father

Mondal rushed to the hospital with his eight-year-old daughter, who was burning with fever and struggling to breathe. She had been coughing through the night, and by morning her chest was heaving, each breath shallow and laboured.

Alarmed, he set out from his home in Dum Dum, hoping the hospital's emergency department would attend to her without delay.

'Not doctors' fault'

But the main emergency block was closed, and he was redirected to an already overcrowded trauma care unit. Realising that a general case like his daughter’s might face a long wait amid the rush of critical trauma patients, Mondal made a difficult decision. The panic-stricken father took her to a private nursing home instead to prevent losing precious time.

“It is not their fault,” Mondal said later, referring to the doctors. “They are running. But this place is not meant for all patients.”

The junior doctors' front has been spearheading the movement for justice in the 2024 rape-murder case as well as systemic overhauls of the state’s healthcare sector, including improved patient care.

'Suspicion about CBI's role'

“There is no clarity on when the investigation will conclude, and justice will be delivered. We are not at all satisfied with the investigation so far, which leaves room for suspicion about the CBI’s role and intention,” Dr Roy said.

The probe, first handled by Kolkata Police and later taken over by the CBI, is now also facing judicial scrutiny after the victim’s parents sought a review of both investigations, alleging that important aspects require re-examination.

Also read: SC transfers RG Kar Medical College rape-murder case to Calcutta HC

More importantly, the late junior doctor's parents have urged the court to examine whether any political influence shaped the course of the investigation.

They have alleged that the CBI did not pursue an independent and effective line of inquiry after taking over from the Kolkata Police and instead reinforced the initial narrative of a lone accused.

The family’s repeated appeals reflect deep dissatisfaction with the direction and pace of the probe and underscore the deep mistrust surrounding the case.

The suspicion, Dr Roy explained, stems from two vital shortcomings noticed in the CBI investigation so far.

“First, the CBI failed to unearth anything substantial beyond the initial findings of the Kolkata Police. Second, it has yet to file a supplementary charge sheet addressing the wider conspiracy in the rape-murder case,” he said.

The agency initially charged and later secured a conviction against the prime accused, Sanjay Roy, effectively endorsing the Kolkata Police’s claim that he was the lone accused in the case.

Also read: Voices from behind the silence: What it means ‘to survive’ sexual violence

On charges of tampering with evidence and possible destruction or suppression of material linked to the crime scene, the CBI had also arrested former principal of the hospital, Dr Sandip Ghosh, and the ex-officer-in-charge of Kolkata’s Tala Police Station, Abhijit Mandal.

But they were granted bail in December 2024 after the CBI failed to submit any charge sheet against them within the mandatory 90-day period of their custody, even though it had alleged their involvement in the destruction of evidence and possible conspiracy.

The central agency had said in the same month that a supplementary charge sheet would be filed once evidence was complete, but no such filing has been made so far.

Its apparent lack of follow-through on Kolkata Police’s assistant sub-inspector Anup Dutta has also raised fresh questions about the direction of the investigation, sources privy to the case said.

Also read: Unnao rape case: Did public outrage influence SC's decision to stay Sengar's bail?

The CBI had earlier sought a polygraph test on Dutta and investigated his reported proximity to Sanjay Roy, along with allegations of unofficial favours or prior knowledge of the crime.

After initial enthusiasm, sources said, the CBI has surprisingly shown little further interest in probing Dutta, raising doubts about its intent.

Action against whistleblower

In the meantime, the case has grown more complex with the CBI’s recent legal action against former hospital official Akhtar Ali, a whistleblower in an alleged case of corruption involving the institute, raising fresh questions about the direction of the investigation.

Also read: Doesn't Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao include Unnao rape survivor?

Ali, a former deputy superintendent of the medical facility, was the first to alert authorities about the alleged financial irregularities. He has now been named as a co‑accused in the supposed irregularities related to the hospital’s procurement and financial practices.

His case complicates the narrative because he was once regarded as a key whistleblower whose complaint helped trigger central agency probes into R G Kar’s administrative lapses. He has also claimed to possess documents that could be relevant to the ongoing rape‑murder investigation.