IN RE: ALLEGED RAPE AND MURDER INCIDENT OF A TRAINEE DOCTOR Vs. IN RE: ALLEGED RAPE AND MURDER INCIDENT OF A TRAINEE DOCTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On 9/8/2024, a thirty-one year old postgraduate doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata who was on a thirty six hour duty shift was murdered and allegedly raped inside the seminar room of the hospital. As horrific details have emerged in the course of media reportage, the brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime have shocked the conscience of the Nation. The name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity.

(2.) Writ petitions were instituted before the Calcutta High Court seeking among other things, a court-monitored investigation of the crime and the conduct of the hospital authorities, including the role of the Principal of the medical college and other officials by a special team of investigating officers. It has been alleged that the parents of the deceased were initially informed that their daughter had committed suicide; they were permitted to see the dead body after several hours and a first information report in regard to the murder was registered belatedly by the police after several hours.

(3.) By its order dtd. 13/8/2024, the High Court transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation.