The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged in its status report, submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday, that the crime scene in the rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was tampered with. The CBI also claimed that the West Bengal Police initially misled the victim’s parents by informing them that their daughter had died by suicide, only to later assert it was a murder.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing the case, which has drawn widespread attention and sparked public outrage. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is overseeing the proceedings.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, informed the court that the agency only took charge of the investigation five days after the incident. He asserted that by that time, significant alterations had been made to the crime scene, hampering the investigation. Mehta also highlighted that the First Information Report (FIR) was filed at 11:45 PM, after the victim had been cremated. The videography of the postmortem was reportedly carried out at the insistence of the victim’s senior colleagues, who suspected foul play.
Countering these claims, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, argued that the investigation was not compromised, as everything was properly videographed.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had established a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to develop protocols ensuring the safety and security of doctors and healthcare professionals, in light of the disturbing nature of this case. The court criticized the state government for its delayed response in filing the FIR and for allowing the hospital to be vandalized by agitators.
The tragic incident, where the junior doctor was found dead with severe injuries in a seminar hall of the hospital, has led to nationwide protests. On August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the investigation from Kolkata Police to the CBI, which began its probe the following day.