The parents of the deceased RG Kar hospital doctor, who were allegedly injured during a police lathicharge here on Saturday, have been admitted to a private hospital, an official said.
The mother, who reportedly suffered injuries to her forehead, hands and back, underwent a CT scan and other diagnostic tests to assess the extent of both internal and external injuries, a hospital official said.
The condition of the father is better. Both were admitted in the same facility for treatment, the official added.
Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, visited the hospital to meet the injured parents and described the mother’s condition as “very serious.”
“The injuries to the mother are quite serious. The father's condition is a bit better,” Adhikari said while coming out of the hospital.
Earlier in the day, the mother alleged that she was roughed up by women police personnel during a march to the West Bengal state secretariat Nabanna, called to mark one year of the rape and murder of her daughter at the state-run hospital.
The alleged assault took place at the Park Street crossing, where police baton-charged protesters attempting to breach barricades and proceed toward Vidyasagar Setu en route to the secretariat.
“Police pinned me to the ground. They broke my shankha (traditional conch shell bangle) and I sustained injury on my forehead,” the victim's mother alleged. She claimed that four to five police personnel assaulted her during a scuffle between police and protesters.
Police has denied having used any force on the parents of the victim.
“We have no information about the victim's parents getting beaten up by police at Park Street crossing. Police did not do anything to the parents. But their allegations will be duly investigated,” DC (port) Harikrishna Pai told reporters.
“Why are they stopping us like this? All we want is to reach Nabanna and seek justice for my daughter,” the victim's mother said. “Police tried to block us by putting up barricades. Why are you so inhuman? Why are you scared of us? We are unarmed,” she said, asserting she would not stop until she meets the chief minister to demand justice for her daughter.
“Police could not save my daughter or give her justice, but they did not think twice about beating up women and elderly persons,” she added.
The victim's father alleged that police tried to prevent the family from reaching Dorina Crossing to join the march, despite court permission for a peaceful rally.
“Police were following us from the time we left our home. At Sinthi crossing, when we entered Kolkata Police jurisdiction, police took photos of our vehicle and forwarded them to other police officers in the city so that we could be stopped. We had to play a cat and mouse game with police to reach Dorina Crossing assembly point in central Kolkata,” he said.
“They have been harassing the protesters and have tried every means at their disposal to stop the agitators from conducting their march from Esplanade,” he added.
Police lathi-charged protesters at the Park Street crossing after agitators tried to break through barricades, ignoring police warnings not to move beyond the Rani Rashmoni Road assembly point.
The father claimed police circulated their car number to all checkposts and repeatedly tried to intercept them.
“We used cat-and-mouse tactics to reach Dorina Crossing,” he told ABP Ananda, adding that the Calcutta High Court had permitted a peaceful protest, yet multiple barricades were set up.
(With inputs from PTI)