18 August,2024 05:17 PM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Supreme Court/ File Photo
The Supreme Court of India has taken suo motu notice of the Kolkata doctor rape-murder case. A trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was allegedly raped and murdered. According to the cause list for August 20, a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will hear the matter titled 'In Re: Alleged rape and murder incident of a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata and related issue', reported PTI.
An ANI report stated that on August 16, two lawyers practising in the top court and a doctor from Telangana had penned a letter to CJI Chandrachud urging him to take suo moto cognisance of the Kolkata doctor rape-murder case.
Advocates Ujjawal Gaur and Rohit Pandey wrote to CJI Chandrachud, requesting that he take suo moto cognisance of the incident, as the highest court of the land must intervene with the urgency and gravity that this case requires.
The PTI report further stated that the Calcutta High Court recently shifted the probe of the Kolkata doctor rape-murder case from Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The alleged crime, which occurred in a seminar hall at the state-run hospital, has sparked significant outcry.
Meanwhile, for the past ten days, healthcare services in West Bengal have been significantly affected as junior physicians at government hospitals continue to protest, demanding justice for their colleagues. Even though the outpatient departments (OPDs) are closed on Sundays, senior doctors have been responding to emergencies.
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"We are not for affecting healthcare services. We can understand the problems faced by the patients but our protest is very relevant in this context when an on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. Is this what we expect while coming to work? We will continue with our protest till our sister gets justice and the government arranges total security for us," an agitating doctor told PTI.
On August 9, the body of a postgraduate trainee doctor was discovered in the hospital's seminar hall. The next day, a civic volunteer was detained for allegedly being involved in the crime. The junior doctors are demanding immediate punishment for the perpetrators, as well as the public release of the victim's post-mortem report.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered that the case be transferred to the CBI, which began its investigation on August 14.
