The parents of the RG Kar rape-and-murder victim on Saturday questioned the bail granted to former hospital principal Sandip Ghosh in a corruption case, while announcing renewed calls for accountability in the investigation into their daughter’s death.Meanwhile, two citizens’ groups, ‘Voice of Abhaya’ and ‘Voice of Women’, have announced a protest march to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office on November 12, starting from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The organisers have appealed to citizens, particularly women, to join the demonstration and press for action in the case.“We appeal to citizens from all sections of society, especially women, to come out on the streets on November 12 and show that they do not have to depend on any government to get their demands fulfilled. Let the CBI know that despite attempts to destroy, withhold or suppress evidence, people are still protesting and are on the streets. There is no room for despair,” one of the organisers said, as quoted by PTI.The groups urged people not to lose hope and called on the investigating agency to act on the evidence.The proposed demonstration comes amid mounting criticism from the victim’s family and sections of the medical community over the pace of the investigation. The Joint Platform of Doctors had also criticised the CBI last week following the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Ghosh, warning of a larger agitation over the slow progress of the probe.The victim’s mother, Ratna Debnath, who is now a BJP MLA, expressed anger over Ghosh’s bail and questioned why those who were with her daughter in the hours before her death had not been arrested.“If everyone had been arrested at the time instead of allowing evidence to be destroyed, the situation might have been different. In every case, the last-seen theory is examined. Those present with my daughter must be questioned. The doctors have said that she died between midnight and 6 am. Who was with her during that period? Why have they not been arrested? Is it because they are doctors? My daughter was also a doctor,” she said.Debnath also demanded action against those she alleged had ordered the destruction of evidence following the crime.“Who were the people who directed that everything be destroyed so quickly? The then health minister, the health secretary NS Nigam and Sandip Ghosh… those responsible must be identified. The main conspirators must be brought to justice,” she said.The victim’s father also criticised the investigation and said Ghosh should have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case, while expressing faith that justice would eventually be delivered.“He should have been sentenced to life imprisonment in this case,” he said.Last week, the father had questioned the CBI’s handling of the investigation and demanded that Ghosh be chargesheeted in the rape-and-murder case. He also said the agency’s investigating officer, Monish Upadhyay, had told him that there was little the CBI could do at present and that the process would take time.The father had expressed concern over the agency’s accountability, saying, “If 1.47 billion people place their trust in an agency, how can they continue to have faith in it if such negligence persists? The government is not responsible; the investigating agency is.”Debnath had similarly said at the time that the government could not be held directly responsible for the CBI’s actions, describing it as an independent investigating agency that would have to answer for its work.The victim’s father also questioned the continued tenure of West Bengal health secretary NS Nigam. “He will not remain in the post. The chief minister has said that if evidence is found, he can be removed,” he said.BJP leader Rahul Sinha also expressed surprise over Ghosh’s bail but said the decision rested with the judiciary.“We were also surprised that Sandip Ghosh got bail. I would clearly say that it would have been better if he had not been granted bail. But can any of us interfere with a judge? The decision to grant or deny bail rests entirely with the judiciary, and obtaining bail is also an individual’s legal right. I can say clearly that nobody in Bengal is happy with this bail order,” Sinha told reporters.The Supreme Court granted bail to Ghosh on October 17 in the case concerning alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and the manipulation of merit scores to accommodate undeserving candidates.A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale allowed his plea challenging the Calcutta High Court’s February 23 order denying bail. The apex court took note of the period Ghosh had spent in custody and the pace of the trial, observing that he had been incarcerated for more than two years while only seven of the 147 witnesses had been examined.
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Ghosh had resigned as the hospital’s principal after the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor in August 2024. He was subsequently arrested in connection with alleged financial irregularities at the institution. The CBI had also arrested Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal, the then officer-in-charge of Tala police station, over allegations linked to evidence tampering and lapses in the investigation.Junior doctor Aniket Mahata, a prominent figure in the RG Kar movement, had also criticised the bail decision last week, saying it had renewed anger among doctors and calling for a united fight for justice.
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Vikrant Kharwar is the Founder and Editor of News Us Media. He writes about trending news, sports, entertainment, technology, and viral stories. His goal is to make news simple, informative, and easy to understand for readers across the United States and around the world.
