Police push away a protester at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Police have ruled out the allegation of rape and strangulation of 17-year-old Rafat Kausar at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital on Monday.

“The post-mortem could not establish the allegations of rape and strangulation. The body has been handed over to her relatives this evening,” a police officer said on Tuesday.

Rafat’s mother Shamsad lodged a complaint with Beniapukur police station on Monday night, alleging that her daughter had been raped and strangulated in an operating theatre of the hospital.

An officer said a few relatives of Rafat went to the police station on Tuesday morning and sought to withdraw the complaint. “But we decided to go ahead with the probe and the post-mortem.”

The family, however, denied it ever wanted to withdraw the complaint.

The health department has also ordered an inquiry into the matter. “A detailed probe will be carried out,” health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra said on Tuesday morning.

Rafat, a resident of 18 Marquis Street, was taken to the hospital on Monday afternoon after she complained of abdominal pain. “The doctors said she was suffering from appendicitis. She was taken to the OT around 4pm and was declared dead at 6.30pm,” Rafat’s sister Farhad said.

“When my sister walked into the OT, she was quite normal, except for the pain in the abdomen. But when we saw her body, the tongue was protruding, the teeth were on edge and there were livid marks on her throat and thighs,” said Farhad, who was waiting outside the police morgue while the post-mortem was being performed.

The hospital has been denying the allegations since Monday night. “Rafat died of a sudden complication in the OT, before the surgery could be performed,” said a hospital official.

A mob, shouting slogans against the authorities, tried to enter the hospital on Tuesday, but was stopped by the police. Later, the mob set up at least three blockades on Sundari Mohan Avenue outside the hospital.