The harrowing rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee female doctor inside the premises of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College has sparked a massive outrage, with protests across India and throughout the world demanding Justice for Abhaya. While the case has underscored the need for strict laws in heinous cases of crime against women and timely delivery of Justice following an ‘impartial’ probe, it has also put Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in the spotlight.
Currently, the senior management of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is facing massive backlash for their initial response to the case. Initially, it claimed that it was a suicide case, but the probe revealed that it was a case of brutal rape and murder. The development has opened a can of worms for the hospital as this is not a one-off incidence when the medical institution made headlines for all the wrong reasons. On multiple occasions, RG Kar Hospital was in the news over allegations of one criminal activity or the other or for suspicious deaths.
The mysterious death of a fourth-year student, Soumitra Biswas, snowballed into allegations of a porn ring being behind his ‘murder’
OpIndia earlier reported how a 23-year-old case of a medical student’s suspicious death was also initially passed off as a suicide. However, the High Court later ordered a probe when the family of victim Soumitra Biswas disagreed and demanded a probe saying that he was murdered for trying to expose a porn ring. Even though Auromita Das, a female student of the medical college, was arrested in connection with the case, the West Bengal Police CID could not make much progress in the case, and it remains unresolved. The police had questioned several members of SFI, the student wing of CPM, but could not find any clue.
Back-to-back instances of ‘suspicious death’/suicide and a failed bid at suicide
Two years later, in February 2003, the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital saw two back-to-back cases – one of ‘suspicious death’/suicide and another of a failed bid at ‘suicide’, taking the tally of such cases to four in close succession of a few years.
These four cases included the case of Soumitra Biswas who lost his life in August 2001 and the family had alleged murder for trying to expose a porn ring. The other three being Madhusudan Sau (February 1999), Arijit Datta (February 2003), and Praveen Gupta (February 2003).
In the first week of February 2003, a housestaff, named Arijit Dutta (24) reportedly committed suicide by “cutting his veins and then jumping off the roof” of the main hostel building of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. He was a resident of Bamunpara, Suri, in the Birbhum district. No initial reason was reported for the suspicious death/suicide as no note or any other indication was found.
Unlike the rest, it was reported that the fourth-year student of the college, Praveen Gupta, failed in his suicide attempt. As per reports, he hailed from the Lal Mohan Hostel at Maniktala where he tried to slash both his wrists when most of his hostel mates were, apparently, fast asleep.
However, a Telegraph report on the incident stated that medical experts were mostly sceptical about Gupta’s decision to slash both his wrists, which also baffled investigators.
The Amherst Street police station officials had said that a “note written to his girlfriend” was recovered from Gupta’s possession. Based on the contents, the cops believed that a failed love affair caused the medical student’s “depression”. However, Metro reported that some of his close friends suggested otherwise.
A decomposed body of RG Kar Medical College professor was found at home; the room locked from the inside, Police suspected a heart attack
In October 2016, Police found the severely decomposed body of a 54-year-old RG Kar Medical College professor, Gautam Pal, inside his rented South Dum Dum apartment which was locked from the inside.
According to police, Pal, departmental head of RG Kar medicine unit No.6, had gone missing a few days earlier.
After getting a strong stench from his house, his neighbours alerted the Police. After breaking his main door, which was bolted from inside, Police found his body on a bed in a room on the first floor but the bed was found to be in perfect condition, leading to the suspicion that Pal might have suffered a cardiac arrest.
After examining the body, doctors told Police that Pal had died at least three days ago.
But the Police said that no suicide note was found in the house and thus contents of Pal’s stomach were preserved to test for traces of poison. As per reports, investigators had also found blood stains on the floor of his room and some bruises in his face.
Trainee Female doctor, Poulami Saha, reportedly committed suicide; no suicide note was found
RG Kar Hospital was again back in the news in May 2020 in connection with the reported suicide of a trainee female doctor during the COVID pandemic. The 25-year-old junior doctor allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the 6th floor of the emergency building.
The deceased, Poulami Saha, was a second-year Post Graduate Trainee at the sick neonatal care unit of the hospital. According to the police, the junior doctor jumped from the 6th floor around 11 am before starting her shift at the fever clinic of the hospital.
The Police had stated that her body was sent for postmortem. While no suicide note was found, Police said that they had learned that she had been suffering from depression for the last few days.
It is pertinent to note that while it was reported that she jumped off the 6th floor, as per a report in Mumbai Mirror, the trainee doctor committed suicide by jumping off the 11th floor. The hospital authorities did not confirm suicide.
Unlike the past cases when the majority of the incidents unfolded within the hospital building, a fourth-year medical student of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital reportedly died when he was on a trekking tour with his friends in Uttarakhand in January 2023.
The family members of a deceased medical student, Sayan Mondal, were informed that he had successfully trekked up the Brahmatal but collapsed while returning from there. As per reports, while climbing down, he was suffering from acute breathing trouble and fell unconscious on the way. He was rushed to the Dewal government hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Intern dies of ‘drug overdose’
Last year in August, an intern of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital reportedly died in the hospital. The Tala Police had filed a case of ‘unnatural death’, but an overdose of an antidepressant drug was being pointed out as the cause of death.
In the meantime, the Police had not found any suicide note and also ruled out any foul play in the mysterious death. The deceased, Suvorojyiti Das (23) was doing his internship after completing his MBBS.
As per reports, his family members found him lying unconscious in his room after which he was rushed to RG Kar Hospital. He died in the hospital’s critical care unit.
Tainted Principal of RG Kar Hospital, Sandip Ghosh was accused of not taking action on the ragging complaint and threatening the student to say the issue was ‘resolved’
In September last year, a final-year medical student accused the then outgoing Principal, Sandip Ghosh, of not taking action on a ragging complaint. Strikingly, Sandip Ghosh has returned to RG Kar Hospital numerous times, despite transfers.
Meanwhile, the final-year student also said that no action is taken against students who are close to Principal Sandip Ghosh. He added that a house staff close to Sandip Ghosh called him and threatened him to submit that his complaint of ragging has been “resolved”.
Notably, the ragging complaint took place just four days before a ragging incident was reported at the Manicktala Boys’ Hostel of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital (RGKMCH.
In an e-mail to Sandip Ghosh on 8th September, the medical student mentioned that he had been subjected to mental and physical ragging for more than three years which was taking a toll on his mental and physical health, hampering his career.
The final-year student had said, “I was expecting a positive response from the outgoing principal (Sandip Ghosh) as he is our utmost guardian at the institute. But instead, I got a call the next day from one of the house staff close to him questioning me why I wrote the mail. How did this senior come to know about the mail at the first place? It is clear that it was leaked to him.”
As per reports, the house staff who called the final-year student to threaten him for filing a ragging complaint was one among the 13 who were named in the FIR for ragging at the Manicktala hostel.
The final-year student further stated, “The house staff even told me to write another mail to the outgoing principal saying that all my issues have been resolved. I refused to oblige.”
He added, “There are many students like me who are regularly harassed for refusing to toe the lines of those handful of seniors who are close to the ex-principal.”
The tainted Principal of RG Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh
Since he took over as principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in 2021, Sandip Ghosh has been a controversial appointee to the medical institution. He is a surgeon and professor of orthopaedics. As per reports, several medical professionals and students have said that he is well-known for his close ties with the ruling state party, Trinamool Congress. He had often been accused of using threats and intimidation to control the hospital autocratically. It is pertinent to note that he has returned to RG Kar Medical College on several occasions, even after getting transferred to another college.
According to News18, a few months after he joined the college, students held a hunger strike in front of his office to register their protest against his refusal to establish separate student and residence hall councils.
Previously, he was the Vice Principal of Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC).
He was transferred to Murshidabad Medical College in June 2023 but he locked the principal’s chamber and didn’t allow his replacement Sanat Ghosh to join RG Kar Medical College. In less than 48 hours, he was given a promotion, and the transfer order was cancelled.
However, he was once again transferred in September 2023 over the ragging incident in the boys’ hostel. As per reports, following his transfer orders, students connected to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) blocked the newly appointed principal from taking over the charge for five days. And he was yet again reinstated to RG Kar Medical College in less than a month.
According to reports, this came after a hospital deputy superintendent transferred him after accusing him of being a racketeer.
In the recent tragic case of rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor, the Calcutta High Court came down heavily on the Police and the West Bengal government for reinstating him to another medical college hours after he resigned from his post of Principal of RG Kar Medical College following his initial response in this case.
