RG Kar rape-murder: A month passes without visible progress amid widespread protests

It has been over a month since the rape-murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College. The gruesome crime has shaken Calcutta’s conscience and led to widespread protests. In the weeks that followed, significant developments have occurred, from allegations of botched investigation, court interventions, and controversial political statements. 

Amid all this widespread public protests have encompassed every section of society, from doctors to astrologers to artistes. 

 Here’s a look at the developments since August 9.

August 9: Body of trainee doctor found

• On August 9, 2024, the body of a 31-year-old trainee doctor was discovered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata sometime around 9.30 am.  
• The rest of the details of the day still remain hazy and contested. 
• What is confirmed is that the post-mortem began around 6.10 pm and continued till 7.10 pm. 
• What is also confirmed, as the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud pointed out in the Supreme Court on Monday, is that there was a delay of around 14 hours in filing the FIR. Kolkata Police have attributed the delay to investigations being carried out and information being collected.

 August 10: Kolkata Police arrest a civic volunteer; protests start

• The news of the trainee doctor’s rape and murder spreads on August 10, 2024 leading to outrage.
• Junior doctors and some Left leaders accuse the Kolkata Police and the hospital administration of attempting to portray the crime as a suicide.
• Kolkata Police arrest a 33-year-old civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, based on CCTV footage and a Bluetooth device found near the victim’s body. The footage allegedly showed Roy entering the seminar hall around 4 am.
• Roy was working as a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police since 2019.
• Junior doctors’ start their cease-work on August 10, crippling OPD services at government medical colleges across the state.

August 12: Principal Sandip Ghosh resigns; Mamata visits victim’s parents

• Principal of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital Sandip Ghosh resigns, taking moral responsibility as the protests over the rape-murder intensify.
• The state health department transfers him to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital within hours of his resignation.
• Chief minister Mamata Banerjee visits the RG Kar victim’s family and states that the government will hand over the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if the Kolkata Police make no progress by August 18.
• The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) announces a nationwide halt to elective services as a mark of protest.

August 13: CBI takes over

• The Calcutta high court transfers the investigation to the CBI after the victim's parents request an independent probe.
• The Calcutta high court bench questions ex-principal Sandip Ghosh’s new appointment and directs him to go on leave.
• Protests gain pace and spread beyond doctors; a call to ‘Reclaim the Night’ at various parts of the state on August 14 is given by Rimjhim Sinha, a 29-year-old independent researcher, on social media.
• “I decided to take a call because…..society and a lot of people have always tried to blame women,” Sinha tells The Telegraph Online.
  

August 14: Public, led by women, Reclaim the night

• The Reclaim the Night protest is held across Calcutta and a few districts of Bengal. Lakhs of people, cutting across age groups and professions, take to the streets.
• Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent of RG Kar Medical College, in media interviews accuses ex-principal Sandip Ghosh of running a huge corruption racket.

August 15: Vandalism at RG Kar; commissioner blames media and social media

• Minutes after midnight, scores of miscreants break into RG Kar Medical College and vandalise portions of the hospital amid the ongoing Reclaim the Night protests. The attack occurs around 12:40 am.
• Police give chase to the attackers, who fight back with bricks and projectiles.
• Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal arrives at the RG Kar and blames rumours and “malicious” media campaign for the attacks on his force.
• Later in the morning, Kolkata Police post pictures on social media and seek public help to to identify the suspects involved in the vandalism. The police also urge the public not to spread unverified news.
• In a post on X, the Kolkata Police say: "The crime scene is the seminar room and it has not been touched. Don't spread unverified news. We will initiate legal action for spreading rumours."

August 16: Cops arrest 19 people for vandalism at RG Kar  

• Kolkata Police thanked the public on social media and informed them they had arrested 19 individuals involved in the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. 
• Chief minister Mamata Banerjee leads a rally in Kolkata asking for justice and capital punishment in the RG Kar rape-murder case

August 17: Kolkata Police warn against rumours; IMA asks PM Modi to intervene

•  Kolkata Police urge the public to refrain from spreading rumours and misinformation about the case and remind people not to disclose the identity of the victim, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives.
• President of the Indian Medical Association Dr RV Asokan seeks Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.

August 18: Supreme Court takes cognizance of the RG Kar rape-murder

• The apex court takes suo motu cognizance and a bench led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud decides to hear the case on August 20.

August 19: CBI questions Sandip Ghosh and seeks permission for polygraph test

• CBI interrogates Sandip Ghosh for the fourth day in a row.
• CBI seeks court permission to conduct a polygraph test on Ghosh

August 20: Kolkata Police forms SIT to investigate corruption charges against Ghosh 

• Government takes cognizance of Akhtar Ali’s complaints against Ghosh and the Kolkata Police forms a SIT to investigate corruption charges against Sandip Ghosh during his tenure at the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital.

August 22: Supreme Court forms task force, raps Kolkata Police for delay

• A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, along with Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, verbally criticise the Kolkata Police for their delay in registering the unnatural death of the doctor.
• The bench cautions the Bengal government against using state power against peaceful protesters and emphasises the need for sensitivity in handling the case
• The apex court forms a 10-member National Task Force, led by Surgeon Vice-Admiral Arti Sarin, to create a safety protocol for healthcare professionals.
• The bench orders the Union government to assign the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to take over the hospital's security at RG Kar.
• CM Mamata Banerjee writes her first letter to Prime Minister against the regular and increasing occurrence of rape cases throughout the country emphasising the need to set up Fast Track Special Courts for speedy trail.

August 23: Interns speak out against Ghosh’s tenure

Several interns of the RG Kar medical college speak to The Telegraph Online and highlight the culture of fear, intimidation, and corruption that they say prevailed under the tenure of Sandip Ghosh.

August 24: Calcutta HC directs Kolkata Police to handover Ghosh’s corruption case to the CBI

• The SIT hands over essential documents to the CBI related to financial irregularities as directed by HC.

August 25: CBI conducts polygraph test on Sanjoy Roy

• ‘I didn't commit the murder. I ran from the seminar hall after seeing the body,’ Sanjoy Roy reportedly tells the CBI during his polygraph test. 
• As per reports, the test indicates several deceptive and unconvincing responses. Sanjay Roy's lawyer  Kavita Sarkar says he maintained his innocence during the polygraph test.

August 27: Nabanna Abhijan protest takes a violent turn

• A little-known student organisation, Chhatra Samaj, holds a Nabanna Abhijan rally to storm the Bengal secretariat and demand the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
• The rally turns violent leading to clashes between protesters and police. The police use tear gas, lathicharge, and water cannons to stop the protestors. Many cops are injured in the clashes. One policeman almost loses sight in one eye.
• Union minister and Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder calls for a 12-hour bandh in the state following the clashes between cops and protesters; TMC calls strike illegal.

August 28: Sporadic violence, disruption mark BJP bandh

• The bandh sees clashes between BJP supporters, police and TMC supporters, particularly in Bhatpara, North 24 Parganas district.
• Chief minister Mamata Banerjee states that the state Assembly will convene for a special session in early September to pass a bill ensuring capital punishment for those convicted of rape.
• The IMA suspends the membership of Sandip Ghosh amid the ongoing CBI probe.

August 30: Mamata Banerjee writes second letter to PM Modi

• Mamata Banerjee writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second time, asking him to introduce stricter central legislation for heinous crimes such as rape and murder, highlighting the need for more stringent measures at the national level.

August 31: Ghosh undergoes polygraph test, protesting junior doctors announce telemedicine clinic at the RG Kar

• As per reports, Ghosh claimed in the polygraph test that he became aware of the trainee doctor’s death one hour after her body was found and the GD was lodged.
• The junior doctors’ protests, which affected government hospitals, prompted them to set up a telemedicine clinic named Abhaya across various parts of Kolkata and its fringes. The clinic, operational daily from 10 am to 2 pm daily, started on September 1.

September 2: CBI arrests Sandip Ghosh for corruption

• CBI arrests Sandip Ghosh for alleged financial irregularities during his tenure at the RG Kar. His arrest comes after 16 days of interrogation. CBI also arrests three others, including Ghosh’s “security officer” and two medical products vendors, for alleged corruption.

September 3: Assembly passes anti-rape bill, junior doctors gift spine to Kolkata Police commissioner

• The state Assembly passes the Aparajita Women & Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, which talks of capital punishment
• Taking cue from the Bangladesh protests, BJP MLAs raise ‘dofa ek, dabi ek, mukhyomontrir podotyag’ (one point, one demand, chiefminister’s resignation) slogans inside the floor of the House.
• On the evening of September 3, 2024, junior doctors met Vineet Goyal, where they gave him a deputation. A replica of a spinal cord is kept at the desk during the meeting, symbolising that the police force need to do what is right

September 4: Let there be Light, Let there be Justice

• The protest during the night was aimed to gather focus on the Supreme Court hearing of the case the next day.
• Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta was heckled by the crowd when she joined the protests at Shyambazar. “The mob was all over me and a lot of things could have happened,” she told The Telegraph Online. 
• In places like Coochbehar’s Mathabhanga and North 24 Parganas’ Barasat, TMC workers allegedly attacked protesters. 
• But the Supreme Court hearing is deferred because of the absence of CJI DY Chandrachud

September 6: Supreme Court dismisses Sandip Ghosh’s plea

• The apex court dismisses a plea by Sandip Ghosh challenging the investigation into financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College. 
• The Enforcement Directorate conducts searches at several locations in Kolkata and Howrah, including Ghosh’s residence.

September 8: Reclaim the Night protest spreads across Bengal

• Another Reclaim the Night protest is called before the hearing on September 9. The organisers announce a list of advisers for their movement. They are academic Nivedita Menon, Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover, economist Jean Dreze, lawyer Partha Sarathi Sengupta, historian Dipesh Chakrabarty and actor-director Aparna Sen. 
• In conversations with The Telegraph Online, Nivedita Menon and Vrinda Grover distance themselves from the movement. 
• People from all walks of life joined  the Reclaim the Night protests across Kolkata as well as many districts of Bengal, demanding justice for the trainee doctor.

September 9: Supreme Court hearing and Global Protests

• The Supreme Court bench hears the RG Kar rape and murder case. 
• CJI Chandrachud asks the CBI to continue with its investigation and orders the agency to file a fresh report on September 17.
• The apex court also instructs Bengal’s protesting doctors to return to work by 5 pm of September 10. 
• In conversation with The Telegraph Online some of the junior doctors of Kolkata express dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court hearing. 
• The IMA’s West Bengal chapter expresses strong support for the striking doctors, despite the Supreme Court's order for them to return to work.
• The IMA says it is dissatisfied with the Supreme Court's handling of the RG Kar case and the CBI's investigation.
• The association condemns the portrayal of junior doctors as responsible for hospital deaths during the strike, claiming that such claims are false and no hospital services were completely disrupted.