Published on October 2, 2024

It's Time for India to Change their Justice System

By Sasha Divekar
Illustration by Sasha Divekar
How the murder and rape of a doctor has sparked nationwide outrage surrounding legal reform

On August 9th, 2024, a 31-year-old doctor was found dead in the 3rd-floor classroom at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, her place of work. The postmortem report reveals severe mutilation and damage to the body: strangulation, abrasions all over the face, scratch marks, injuries to the pelvis, and bleeding from the eyes and genital region. The autopsy report also found evidence of forceful penetration and the presence of 150gm of male semen in her body, which suggests that this was an act of gang rape. However, the police have attempted to debunk this and are suggesting this is a false narrative created by the media. 

As new information is revealed, public opinion is solidified that this was a ruthless murder.

Despite ample proof of homicide and assault, authorities initially ruled the incident to be a suicide case, which sparked mass public outrage, following which the case was reopened as a homicide investigation. The CBI was critical of how the Kolkata police forces collected evidence; the crime scene was deliberately left unguarded, which allowed for possible tampering with the vital evidence.

A torn earphone was discovered near the body in the seminar hall. Police used this piece of evidence and technological development (Bluetooth) to track the alleged rapist and murderer, a Kolkata police civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy. The accused had scratch marks across his body that matched the skin and blood samples found under the victim's nails. However, the victim's parents believe Sanjay was not the primary perpetrator but was a ploy to cover up the crimes committed by the hospital.  

Alongside this, a letter addressed to the Public Works Department, signed by the former principal of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, was leaked to the public. This letter was dated August 10th, a day after the discovery of the victim's body, and requested for renovation to begin near the site of the crime. This enabled the public to believe the police and authorities of this hospital were attempting to cover up the real perpetrators of the case. 

On September 14th, 2024, the CBI arrested Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal, the officer in charge of the Kolkata Police station, for their roles in destroying evidence and delaying the registration of the FIR. 

What are they hiding? 

The first red flag surrounding the case is the police's initial ruling on the death. The parents of the victim were told that their daughter had committed suicide, after which they were not allowed to see the body. Based on the postmortem reports shared, the public finds the ruling of 'suicide' incomprehensible. Her body showed clear signs of assault and ensuing struggle; for the police to deem it as 'suicide' resulted in a vast amount of theories circulating across the student body at this university. 

The most popular theory is that the victim was murdered to prevent her from exposing a drug and sex scandal within the hospital. This is not the first time such an incident has occurred in this particular hospital. Similarly, on August 25th, 2001, a fourth-year medical student was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his dormitory. Students from the college accused pornography and prostitution networks within the hospital of the murder of this innocent student. According to them, the victim protested against the group that organized the sex rackets when a close female friend's photo was used and edited onto videos of prostitutes. When the body was discovered, there was a handkerchief shoved in his throat, and the back door of the room had been wrenched open. Physicians also found it hard to believe that the student would have hung himself because the length from the ceiling fan to the floor was too short, and the 'rope' was just a short nylon string. 

Students from the university believe the 31-year-old victim was murdered because she, too, threatened to reveal the truth about the drug and sex racket within her department. A few questioned how Sanjay Roy came to know the victim was resting in the seminar room during her 36-hour shift and believed she was targeted by the gang. 

Following the incident, multiple protests took place around Kolkata, all ultimately fighting for the victims' justice. Thousands of junior doctors in West Bengal have been on strike since August 9th, fighting against the authorities involved in the case. They demanded several changes: justice for the victim, the removal of senior police officials, and enhanced security for health workers.

The protests taking place in India now have led to the removal of key authority figures. The Indian State of West Bengal has agreed to remove the police chief of Kolkata and two other senior officials, the director of medical education and the director of health services. 

This isn’t the first time the public in India has been outraged and used their voices against the unfair justice system. In 2012, the gang rape and murder (known as the Nirbhaya case) of a 23-year-old female on a moving bus in the capital city, Delhi, led to changes in the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act. 

Despite the legal reforms enacted after the outrage surrounding the 2012 Nirbhaya case, over a decade later, rape statistics in the country are still at an all-time high. The fact that authorities are attempting to cover up the reality of the Kolkata doctor case is appalling, to say the least, especially when these are the institutions meant to protect and aid the nation's citizens. From the mass protests this incident has sparked, it is clear that the public is angry and ready to fight for the betterment of the justice system and, by extension, their freedom, rights, and, ultimately, their lives.

 

Author's note: For those interested in podcasts and who wish to find out more about the case, the podcast linked below gives an in-depth analysis! 

Written by Sasha Divekar
she/her

Fashion & Fine Arts major. The Vampire Diaries enthusiast. Current Photo Director for Peacock Magazine.