NEW DELHI: Amidst ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra has denied allegations of a cover-up.
She responded to accusations from the opposition BJP, which criticized chief minister Mamata Banerjee and elected female representatives, calling them “Gungi gudiya” (mute dolls).
Moitra defended the state government’s actions and emphasized that there is no systematic cover-up in the case.
“The story that is going around that the state government and most of all, the chief minister and all of us who are elected representatives are indulging in some kind of systematic cover-up is absolutely wrong and incorrect.
The chief minister was in Jhargram Medinipur when the incident happened. When she was informed about it she spoke to the family of the girl immediately. Upon her return to Kolkata, she went and visited them within 12 hours the police arrested the prime suspect on the basis of CCTV evidence,” Moitra said.
Moitra highlighted that Mamata Banerjee, the only female CM in India, has consistently stood for women’s causes and criticized the political narrative that TMC representatives are “Gungi gudiya” (mute dolls).
Moitra’s response followed remarks from Union Minister and West Bengal BJP President Sukanta Majumdar.
Majumdar accused TMC women MPs of remaining silent on the case and suggested that the silence indicates possible foul play, alleging that a particular TMC MP‘s nephew’s name has repeatedly surfaced in connection with the incident.
“In the doctor’s team, many such topics have come up in their WhatsApp group, some screenshots of this have also reached us like drugs, racket, sex racket…One TMC MP’s nephew’s name keeps coming up repeatedly. I don’t know what the truth is, but something seems off because despite so many women MPs from TMC, not a single one has spoken much after such a major incident. Two TMC MPs and three MLAs are alumni of the same medical college, yet they seem to have been silenced, indicating that something is amiss,” Majumdar said.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) also took action, writing to the Home Secretary and Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, requesting the deployment of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
“I have written to the Hon’ble Home Secretary; Ministry of Home Affairs; Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Hon’ble Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, regarding the vandalism that took place at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and requested them to deploy Central Armed Paramilitary Forces to prevent further destruction of evidence at R G Kar,” Adhikari said in a post on X.
This request followed vandalism at the hospital on Wednesday night, where a mob caused damage to the protest site, vehicles, and public property, prompting security officials to intervene and disperse the crowd.
The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) announced on Thursday that they would resume their strike in protest of the incident. The strike resumes amidst nationwide outcry over the rape and murder.
Former Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal also addressed the West Bengal chief minister in a letter, calling for severe punishment for those responsible.
“The inhuman atrocities inflicted upon this young woman have brought shame upon humanity and triggered widespread protests across the country. As someone who has long advocated for the protection of women’s rights, I have been following this case with close attention, and the more I learn, the deeper my revulsion grows,” Swati Maliwal wrote in her letter.
Banerjee alleged that the Left is colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to create unrest in West Bengal. She commented on the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital, suggesting that the mob involved were BJP affiliates and claimed they had no connection to the student movement.
“Left and Ram want to create unrest in Bengal and they both have come together to do this,” she said, referring to the events at the hospital. “The people who vandalized RG Kar Hospital yesterday and created this ruckus are not connected to the student movement of RG Kar Medical College, they are outsiders, I have seen as many videos, I have three videos as I can see, in which some people are holding national flags, they are BJP people and some are DYFI are holding white and red flags,” CM Banerjee said.
The RG Kar incident has also seen reactions and demonstrations from various medical fraternities. Doctors at Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS in Delhi gathered to protest, and medical students in Kolkata voiced their anger through protests.
Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan expressed his anger and concern on social media over the incident.
“Yes we need to evolve into a society where we ALL feel equally safe. But that is going to take decades. It’s going to hopefully happen with sensitizing and empowering our sons and daughters. The next generations will be better,” he wrote on his X account.
“We will get there. Eventually. But what in the interim ? Right now justice would be to put a hard stop to such atrocities. And the only way to do that is a punishment so harsh that it scares the living daylights out of such perpetrators. That’s what we need. Perhaps? I stand with the victim’s family in seeking justice for their daughter and I stand with all the Doctors that were attacked last night,” his post further read.
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Crime Branch in Kolkata has summoned five doctors and hospital staff for questioning in relation to the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case.
The incident has sparked a nationwide response from medical fraternities and public outrage.
The post-graduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 with the victim’s family alleging rape and murder.