Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former Principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (File).
Kolkata:
The Calcutta High Court has ordered Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former head of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital – where a doctor was raped and murdered last week – to go on long leave.
Dr Ghosh – under scrutiny for comments seen as victim-blaming and failing to ensure staff safety – resigned Monday, declaring “the girl who died was like my daughter… as a parent, I am resigning“, but was re-appointed as Principal of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital 24 hours later.
The court, which also asked tough questions of the state’s handling of this horrific crime, including keeping the doctor’s parents waiting for information and possibly even protecting Dr Ghosh, observed the tragic circumstances of the woman’s death did not seem to have much affected him.
“The Principal is the guardian of all doctors working there… if he doesn’t show any empathy who will show? He should be at home not working anywhere…” a division bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam said, also wondering how it happens that a government lawyer is arguing for Dr Ghosh.
“If the principal stepped down owing ‘moral responsibility’, (it is) rather serious that he is rewarded, within 12 hours, with another appointment. This Principal will not function… let him go on long leave. Otherwise we pass an order,” the court said when told Dr Ghosh had been posted elsewhere.
“Why Do You Protect Him…”
The High Court this morning was hearing a clutch of petitions, including one by the doctor’s parents seeking a court-monitored probe into their daughter’s death. The parents claimed gross insensitivity in state authorities’ handling of the aftermath of the crime, arguing, “We were told at 9.30 pm she was unwell… then (told) she committed suicide. The hospital did not allow me to see my daughter.”
The parents sought impleading of Dr Ghosh, which turned the court’s attention on him. “He was the principal… he cannot shrug off the responsibility and must be impleaded as accused,” they argued.
“No man is above the law…” the court thundered, “How did he step down and then be rewarded with another responsibility?” The court, which demanded the police’s case diary by 2 pm, also directed Dr Ghosh’s resignation letter be filed, observing, “… we want to see what he has written.”
“…why do you protect (him)? Let him tell the truth… something is missing here,” the court said at the end of a brief but intense hearing that included questions of the state government and the cops.
“Should Be More Sensitivity”
On the parents’ claim – that they were not given timely information about their daughter’s rape and murder, and not allowed to see the body – the court came down strongly on the authorities.
“Condition in which body was found was gruesome… but state registered a suicide case. This shows conduct of the state…” senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya< representing the parents, said.
“If this is true… that they were made to wait and (then) misled… then the administration is loitering with them. You cannot treat the deceased like this. There should be more sensitivity.”
The other petitions heard today included pleas to transfer the investigation to the CBI and installation of additional security measures on hospital and medical college campuses, such as CCTV cameras.
“Doctors Asking For Basic Things…”
The killing has triggered protests by medical professionals nationwide united in demanding a safer workplace. The court acknowledged their agitation in asking tough questions of the state.
READ | “Night Is Ours”: Bengal Women Plan Midnight Protest Over Doctor Rape
“Doctors are on strike… hospitals are not functioning, and patients are suffering. This is not in Bengal alone but across India. We need to take into account their feelings also. Their colleague has been brutally raped and murdered,” the court said, pointing out the doctors had also not been impleaded.
“You (the state) need to take note of their problem also. If one of their colleague was so brutally dealt, their feeling must also be noted. If we can get the name of an association, we can appeal to them… (but) what is the state doing?” the court asked.
RG Kar Medical College Death: Doctors and medical professionals across India are protesting.
“… doctors are justified because the incident is so gruesome. They are asking for basic things,” it continued, brushing aside an objection that “it is difficult to bring entire campus under CCTV…”
“No, no… you can bring the entire state under CCTV! The state should get into a dialogue with the doctors… this should have been done by now.”
An under-fire state government told the court a “thorough (and) transparent” investigation is underway and that the doctor’s family “is being updated regularly by (a) top police officer”.
The state also warned the court “social media is full of wrong information”.
Post-Mortem Report Details
The doctor’s body was found Friday morning in the seminar hall of the state-run hospital. An initial report said she had wounds in her eyes, mouth, and genitals, as also left leg, neck, right hand, ring finger and lips. A second report detailed additional injuries, such as shards of glass in her eye.
READ | ‘Spectacles Shattered, Glass In Eyes’: Autopsy Report Of Raped Doctor
The parents argued this morning that the extent of these injuries suggest more than one attacker, a claim refuted by the state that said “… if there were more people nature of injuries would be different.”
One Accused Arrested
Sanjoy Roy, a civic volunteer who frequented the hospital, has been arrested in connection with the crime. The incident has sparked nationwide protests by doctors and the political opposition.
READ | Doctor’s Rape-Murder Accused Posed As Cop, Said “Hang Me”
The man, Sanjoy Roy, had returned to his place and went to sleep before washing his clothes the next morning to destroy evidence, a police officer probing the case claimed.
“Police Will Have Time Till…”
On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state police force will have time till Sunday to successfully complete its inquiries, failing which the CBI will take over. The deadline – accompanied by praise for “the best (police) in the world” – came amid intense political pressure by the BJP.
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