Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear today the case related to the rape and murder of 31-year-old trainee doctors at the state-run Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is expected to hear the matter at 10.30 am.
On August 9, a medic on duty was raped and murdered inside a state-run hospital. A civic volunteer was arrested by the police the following day in connection with the case. The horrific incident sparked nationwide outrage.
Centre seeks SC action against Bengal govt for non-cooperation with CISF
The Centre has sought a direction from the top court to instruct the West Bengal government to fully cooperate with the CISF and ensure complete compliance with the court’s order.
The Central government has recently filed an application in the apex court alleging “unpardonable” non-cooperation by the West Bengal government in extending logistical support to the CISF, tasked with providing security at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. In its application, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has termed the alleged non-cooperation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government as an example “symptomatic of a systemic malaise” and sought a direction to the state authorities to extend full cooperation to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
What top court had said in earlier hearings?
On August 22, the court reprimanded the Kolkata Police for the delay in registering the unnatural death case. The court also appealed to the protesting doctors to return to work, stating that “justice and medicine” cannot be stopped. Moreover, it said it was issuing all necessary directions to ensure their safety.
The Supreme Court termed the rape and murder of the doctor as “horrific” and issued several directives in response. These included the formation of a 10-member National Task Force to develop a protocol aimed at ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
Hearing a suo-motu case related to the rape and murder of the medic in Kolkata, the apex court had expressed concern over the lack of workplace safety in healthcare institutions and said the country cannot wait for rape or killing for real changes to take place on the ground.
The medic’s body with severe injury marks was found inside the seminar hall of the hospital’s chest department on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day. On August 13, the Calcutta High Court transferred the probe from Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14.
(With PTI inputs)