Kolkata doctor murder case: Family approaches HC seeking court-monitored probe

Kolkata, Aug 13 (IANS) The family members of the woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, who was raped and murdered on the premises last week, approached the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday with the plea for a court-monitored probe in the case. 

In the petition, the family members have raised doubts over the progress of the investigation and also claimed that several suspects have been kept out of the purview of the probe.

Hence, they have urged the court that only a court-monitored probe was necessary to reveal the truth.

In fact, the protesting medical students, junior doctors, representatives of the medical fraternity and the public, in general, have since the beginning questioned the argument of Kolkata Police to date that the arrested civic volunteer Sanjay Ray was the only accused in the case.

Based on the preliminary autopsy report, members of the medical fraternity have claimed that from the nature of multiple injuries on the body of the victim, it was clear that the crime cannot be the handiwork of a single individual and there were more partners in the crime.

The Calcutta High Court has admitted the petition. However, the date of the hearing is yet to be scheduled.

Already public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed at the division bench of Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya in the matter, the hearing for which is scheduled on Tuesday.

In all the PIL, demands have been raised about a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case and claimed there is no faith in the ongoing investigation by the special investigation team (SIT) of Kolkata Police.

However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, announced that she will hand over the charge of investigation to the CBI if the SIT is unable to complete the investigation process by next Sunday.

The body of the junior doctor and a postgraduate student was found in the hospital's seminar room on Friday (August 9) morning. A civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, Sanjay Roy, was later arrested.

The murder has sparked widespread outrage, with doctors and nurses leading protests in Kolkata and other parts of India.