Rape and murder case of a doctor in Calcutta: The father of a 31-year-old doctor-in-training who was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has expressed his dissatisfaction with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s handling of the case.
The victim’s father also responded to Mamata Banerjee’s appeal to the public to shift their attention from the protests to the Durga Puja celebrations.
“We believe that no one will celebrate Durga Puja this year. If anyone celebrates, they will not celebrate with joy because all the people of Bengal and the entire country consider my daughter as their daughter,” the father emotionally told news agency ANI.
The father’s reaction came a day after the victim’s mother called out Mamata Banerjee for her “insensitive” statement.
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“We used to celebrate Durga Puja with our daughter, but we will not celebrate Durga Puja or any other festival in the next few years. Her comments are insensitive,” India Today quoted the victim’s mother as saying. “Let her give us back our daughter. Would she have said the same if this had happened in her family?” she asked.
She also accused Mamata Banerjee of trying to suppress the protests demanding justice for her daughter.
“The light in my house is out forever,” she added. “They strangled my daughter. Now they are trying to suppress the demand for justice.”
The father claimed that the Bengal Chief Minister had not taken any action in the case. “They have only arrested Sanjay Roy in the case… We have been saying this from the beginning that a person from the department is involved in this,” said the father of the aspiring doctor.
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Banerjee’s appeal to “return to the festivities” came amid month-long protests in West Bengal and beyond. The protests, led by junior doctors and supported by the public, are demanding swift justice for the doctor who was found half-naked and brutally murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
Banerjee claimed that the protests were causing disruption and called for calm and a return to normal life.
“I request you to return to the celebrations and allow the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete the investigation as soon as possible,” she said during a meeting at the State Secretariat on Monday.
Meanwhile, protesting junior doctors in West Bengal defied a Supreme Court order asking them to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday. They said they would continue their protest until their demands were met and justice was done to the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder victim.
As medical workers continued their protests for the 32nd consecutive day on Tuesday demanding the sacking of the Kolkata Police Commissioner and several senior officials of the state health department, the state government said Mamata Banerjee had written to the protesters and invited them to a meeting at the Secretariat to break the impasse over the incident.
However, the protesting doctors said the email for the meeting came from the state’s health minister, whose resignation they demanded, and described it as “insulting”. They also said the restriction on the number of participants to 10 was “humiliating”.
(With contributions from agencies)
