CBI, meanwhile, grills former principal of the medical college, where a junior doctor was murdered after rape, for the fourth day on Monday.
Protests against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old medical student continued across West Bengal even as West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Monday said “democracy is declining” in West Bengal. Amidst the ongoing protests in West Bengal, Governor Bose is likely to meet President Draupadi Murmu on Tuesday, Raj Bhavan sources said.
Governor Bose made the comments while meeting a delegation, including doctors and others at a Raksha Bandhan event and expressed his anguish at what transpired at RG Kar Hospital as well as the ‘botched administrative and law enforcement steps”.
Meeting a delegation that expressed solidarity with those protesting the rape and murder at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Bose said “democracy is declining”.
At the ceremony, he met people from all strata of society, mostly women and transgender people.
“In West Bengal, democracy is declining… This cannot continue. Today, we must vow to protect our daughters and sisters… Our society should be one where women feel safe and content… Now is the time for all men to correct our mistakes,” Bose said during the meeting.
“The delegates expressed solidarity with the medical professionals and the protesting masses across the State and the country,” read a statement by the Raj Bhawan, adding that the Governor briefed the delegates on steps he has taken, including his field visit to the hospital and monitoring the situation.
“The delegation expressed their anguish at what had transpired at the RG Kar Medical College and the subsequent botched administrative and law enforcement steps that have clearly failed to measure up to the occasion,” the statement added.
It read that the people he met insisted on taking the investigations “on the right track” to ensure women’s dignity, safety, and security, particularly that of medical professionals.
Governor Bose had announced on Sunday night that he called for an emergency meeting with various sections of people in West Bengal to discuss the case and gather opinions on the Government’s response.
His decision came after Rajya Sabha MP and former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh shared a letter on X urging West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Bose to take immediate action.
“With deep anguish over the delay in justice for the Kolkata rape and murder victim, an incident that has shaken the conscience of all of us, I have penned a heartfelt plea to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of West Bengal, Ms. @MamataOfficial Ji, and Hon’ble @BengalGovernor, urging them to act swiftly and decisively,” Singh wrote on X.
In response, the Governor had posted on X: “HG’s (Honourable Governor’s) swift action on the letter from Shri Harbhajan Singh expressing his anguish over the tragic incident at R.G. Kar Medical College. HG has called an emergency meeting of a cross-section of Bengal society to apprise them of the action taken in the matter and to take stock of their opinions in this regard.”
Meanwhile, CBI officers for the fourth consecutive day on Monday questioned the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh in connection with their probe into the rape and murder of the woman doctor. “Dr. Ghosh reached the CBI’s city office at CGO Complex on Monday morning,” an official said.
In another development, Kolkata Police said: “One person was arrested in Kolkata for allegedly disclosing the identity of the doctor on social media, and for issuing threats to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.”
Police sources said a second-year B.Com student has been arrested by Kolkata Police over allegations of sharing a “provocative social media post” against Mamata Banerjee.
As per the police, the student has been accused of inciting hatred and encouraging criminal activity by allegedly “encouraging” people to assassinate the CM.
Police said they received a complaint that the student uploaded three Instagram stories related to the rape and murder case at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, allegedly disclosing the victim’s name and identity.
“The accused person also shared two stories against the CM of West Bengal containing offensive comments and threats to her life,” claimed Kolkata police officials. An investigation into the case is in progress, they said. The student has been booked under BNS sections 351 (2), 353(1), and 352, dealing with an intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and sections 72 and 79 which deal with words, gestures and acts intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
During the day, the Kolkata Police summoned two well-known doctors to the police headquarters alleging that they had revealed the name of the victim in public. Both doctors denied the charges.
Well-known cardiac surgeon Dr Kunal Sarkar, who was accused of revealing the victim’s identity, denied the allegation. “I have never revealed the name or identity of the victim. I have questions about this case like everyone else. Maybe they don’t want people to share views on this case and it is an attempt to stop people from sharing their anguish,” Sarkar said.