General citizens, as well as the parents of the girl raped and murdered in RG Kar Medical College in August, reacted with shock and horror as two accused: Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, the former officer-in-charge of Tallah police station, were granted bail by a CBI special court in Sealdah on Friday.
The duo was granted bail after the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is probing the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the state-run healthcare facility in Kolkata on August 9, failed to submit its charge-sheet within the stipulated 90 days.
CBI sleuths had arrested Ghosh and Mondal on September 14 on charges of “destruction of evidence” in the case that rocked Bengal and the country and sparked widespread protests spearheaded by the junior doctors.
While Abhijit Mondal was accused of alleged delay in filing of the FIR, Ghosh was accused of tampering of evidence in the case.
The victim’s body was found in a seminar hall of the emergency building of RG Kar medical College and Hospital in north Kolkata.
On Friday, when the case came up before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, the CBI’s counsel informed that the central agency would need more time to frame the charge-sheet in the case.
Following the submission, the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate granted bail to both the accused.
Mondal’s lawyer informed reporters outside the court that his client would be released from the correctional facility where he is currently held on judicial remand.
However, Ghosh will remain in custody due to his judicial remand in a separate case involving alleged financial misconduct at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, despite receiving bail in the rape-murder case.
The parents of the murdered girl made their displeasure public. “The CBI did not do its work properly. That is why these people got bail,” the mother of the victim told mediapersons.
Lawyer and CPIM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said: “This might be the result of some political understanding between the ruling parties in the Centre and the State.” Junior doctors said that the CBI would have to take responsibility for the delay in filing the chargesheet.
“We may need to go on another round of protests to continue our fight for justice,” said Dr Aniket Mahato, leader of the junior doctors’ forum.
“I think everybody is conspiring to shield the culprits. I cannot see any ray of hope now,” the father of the victim told The Daily Guardian.
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita allows 15 days of police custody, which can be authorised in parts during the initial 40 or 60 days of the 60 or 90 days period of judicial custody.
The role of Ghosh and Mondal came under the scanner as the autopsy on the victim was carried out before the FIR was filed in the case.
Doctors demanding justice for their colleague had alleged that the hospital authorities and the Kolkata Police had together destroyed evidence in the case.
Then Kolkata Police chief Vineet Goyal had vehemently denied the allegations.
Mondal was accused of delay in filing the FIR, which also came up for discussion during the hearing before a Supreme Court bench headed by then chief justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
Though the trial of Sanjoy Roy, the lone accused in the rape and murder of the post graduate trainee doctor, is going on, the family members of the RG Kar victim are unhappy with the progress in the case as the CBI – which was handed over the probe following an order by Calcutta High Court – has not made any more arrests in the case.
Following the development, junior doctors, healthcare workers and members of the public took part in a protest march demanding accountability and comprehensive reform of West Bengal’s healthcare system.
The rally, organised by the West Bengal Junior Doctors Federation (WBJDF), began at the West Bengal Medical Council and made its way to Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake. The march also saw the participation of the parents of a doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar hospital in August.
Speaking to reporters, the father of the victim said, “119 days have passed since my daughter’s death, but we are yet to get justice. We believe that we must remain on the streets; without movement, we may not get justice.”
