3 weeks ago
Two years after RG Kar horror, government hospitals still unsafe
In August 2024, a young woman doctor was attacked and killed at a big hospital in Kolkata called RG Kar.
This made doctors all over West Bengal very upset, and they protested for many days.
Two years later, two of those doctors say hospitals are still not safe.
Cameras were put up in hospitals, but nobody watches the recordings right away, so help cannot come in time.
The panic buttons that should call the police are broken in most hospitals.
The security guards are not hired by the government, so doctors do not know if they can trust them.
Sick patients still have trouble finding a hospital bed when they are in an emergency.
The police investigators have not finished looking into the RG Kar case, so the doctors say justice has still not been given.
The doctors hope that promises made to them will finally be kept.
Two years after the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar hospital, doctors say government hospitals still feel unsafe.
CCTV cameras have been installed at hospitals but there is virtually no real-time monitoring of footage, and a central monitoring plan has not taken off.
Panic buttons, meant to alert hospital police outposts, are not functional in most hospitals, and security guards are hired through private agencies.
A central referral system demanded by doctors has not launched; hospitals still refuse patients and critical cases struggle to find beds.
The CBI has not filed a supplementary chargesheet in the RG Kar case in two years, while a new CBI team and an SIT continue the probe.
- Who
- Doctors Aniket Mahata and Snigdha Hazra, who were at the forefront of the junior doctors' protest, along with the CBI and a Calcutta High Court bench of Justices Shampa Sarkar and Tirthankar Ghosh.
- What
- Doctors say government hospitals remain unsafe two years after the RG Kar rape-murder, citing no real-time CCTV monitoring, non-functional panic buttons, agency-hired guards, no central referral system, and an incomplete CBI investigation.
- Where
- West Bengal, India, centering on RG Kar hospital in Kolkata and government hospitals across the state.
- When
- Two years after the incident of August 9, 2024; a new CBI status report was submitted to Calcutta High Court on a recent Thursday.
- Why
- Because a postgraduate trainee was raped and murdered at RG Kar hospital, and doctors say demands for safety measures, a referral system, and justice have still not been met.
Doctors and protesters
CBI and authorities
Investigation pace
Doctors and protesters
Doctors say the CBI's failure to submit a supplementary chargesheet in two years shows the incompetence of the premier investigating agency.
CBI and authorities
The CBI says the fresh probe being conducted by the SIT that took over after July 7 requires more time to complete.
Police accountability
Doctors and protesters
Doctors say suspending three IPS officers linked to the August 14-15, 2024 attack on RG Kar hospital will seem like an eyewash unless the officers are brought under the ambit of the investigation.
CBI and authorities
The new government suspended the three IPS officers who were with Kolkata Police at the time of the attack.
Key facts
- Event
- Rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar hospital
- Date of incident
- August 9, 2024
- Location
- Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- CCTV monitoring
- Installed but no real-time surveillance
- Panic buttons
- Non-functional in most hospitals
- First chargesheet
- Submitted by CBI in October 2024
- Supplementary chargesheet
- Not submitted in two years
- Referral system
- Central referral system yet to take off
Quotes
Aniket Mahata
Medical practitioner formerly part of junior doctors’ protest, now working at a private charitable hospital
“We have security guards now, both male and female, but none of them has been recruited by the government. Most of them are hired by some agencies. How are we supposed to know that we are safe if they are from some random agencies? Also, most peripheral hospitals lack such security guards.”
telegraphindia.com
“The previous government had scaled up the installation of CCTV cameras at hospitals. But even now, there is hardly any provision for monitoring the footage. If any untoward incident happens, there is virtually no chance of any real-time intervention.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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