How much respect do women have in India?
In Bengal, where women are worshipped as goddesses, what happened to a female doctor is truly shocking. After saving lives for 36 hours straight, what reward does a doctor receive?
Rape, torture, and murder. Yes, it was murder, not suicide—a murder.
This case needs attention because many people want to prevent it from becoming a headline, from becoming national news, and just letting it remain a sidenote lost in the sea of other news. Today, I want to discuss an incident that has shaken me to the core and shattered all my hopes. The saddest part is that, except for the doctors, no one seems to care.
At RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, a heinous murder took place. After working for 36 hours straight, When a doctor (PG medical student and trainee) went to the college seminar hall to rest for a while, where she was subjected to unspeakable torture.
Bleeding from her eyes, her mouth, her vagina, with injuries all over her body and fractures—this was murder. Slowly, the details are emerging on social media.
But wait, do you know what the worst part is? Attempts were made to erase the details of the torture. The doctor’s parents were lied to and told it was suicide. Every effort was made to close the case. Evidence was destroyed.
Videos are surfacing on Twitter showing that renovations have started opposite the seminar hall, possibly to eliminate any remaining evidence. The police investigation has been compromised. Questions were raised about the doctor’s mental state. Arrests only happened after protests brought media attention to the issue, but delays might have seriously compromised the investigation, allowing evidence to be destroyed.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee gave a warning to the police that if there is no progress by Sunday, the case will be transferred to the CBI.
There were no CCTV cameras in the area where the rape took place, but the police found a Bluetooth headset. When the police tried to connect it to suspects’ phones, it connected to the phone of Kolkata police volunteer Sanjay Roy. The worst part? This suspect already had multiple allegations against him, such as extortion, intimidation, and threats against women. In 2022, he assaulted his pregnant wife and, a few weeks ago, harassed another female doctor. Yet, what was he doing in the college so late at night? This murder could have been entirely preventable if the college and police had conducted background checks and prioritized the safety of students.
Those who were supposed to be our protectors have become our predators.
And now, the Kolkata High Court has asked that the case be transferred to the CBI.
There are just a few points I really want to discuss.
First, does a murder in Bengal automatically grant the abuser immunity? India has a strange problem where people see crimes through a filter. If a rape happens in UP, politicians rush there, and the incident gets media attention. But after a week, when the public finds something new to be outraged about, everyone looks away. However, there are states in India where no matter what happens, your sins are washed away, and West Bengal is one of them. After every election in Bengal, there is post-poll violence, and every time, it is covered up. The horrors of Sandesh khali were similarly buried, and now every effort is being made to bury this incident too.
Just hours after the resignation of RG Kar Medical College’s principal, he was appointed as the principal of another medical college. What does that tell you? Bengal is a dumpster fire that will keep burning, and you’ll keep hearing the cries of the innocent, but you ignore it because the color of the fire isn’t the one you prefer.
The second point is that in India, politicians and bureaucrats take excessive pride in their positions. And why wouldn’t they? Their mistakes are always forgiven. If you have political connections, you have no fear of the law. The Pune Porsche case is a perfect example—having political connections or being a member of a political party means all your crimes are forgiven. If you commit a crime, the entire system works to protect you. Evidence will be erased, investigations will drag on for years, and ultimately, nothing will happen, and nothing will change. And that’s the real shame. At least, thanks to social media, these cases come to light, but they are eventually forgotten because in such a large country, something happens every day, and people move on from one tragedy to another.
The people who have power should be fearful; they should be scared of the law and treated equally under it. Until this happens, nothing is going to change.
Doctors work 36-hour shifts, treating and saving lives, even without proper facilities or adequate beds in hospitals.
You may wonder what connection all these issues have with this incident. There is a connection. You may think that rape is a sexual act, but it isn’t. Rape is an act of power to show women their place. Until this mentality is corrected, nothing will change. As a country, we need to think: if a man needs to rape and torture a woman to feel powerful, how much psychological help do we all need?
For a woman to be considered a goddess is far from reality—if we can just start treating her like a human being, that would be a significant victory.