Kolkata doctor murder case triggers 5 questions: ‘Legs torn apart, suicide, gang rape, evidence tampering’

A woman recalled the horror of the Friday morning when the news of a 31-year-old woman doctor's death was broken to her parents in Kolkata. "It was around 10:30 [am] on August 9 when my neighbours [the parents of the Kolkata rape-murder victim] ran to me and said 'sab kuch khatam ho gya'," the woman, who is reportedly the deceased's relative, said.

While sharing the ordeal in a broken voice, the relative claimed that the victim's mother said she received the information that her daughter died by suicide. She didn't mention who gave this information to the parents. This was just the beginning of the horror they would witness in the next few hours.

Speaking to Lallantop, the relative said the parents pleaded before the hospital authorities to show them their daughter's face. But they were made to wait for three hours, she claimed. "After three hours, they allowed the father to go inside and see her body," she said.

Relative describes horror

The relative said the father clicked a picture of the crime scene. She described the image as:

"Bacchi ke shareer par koi kapda nahi tha, paer dono right angle par mila gya...ek paon bed ke is taraf, ek paon bed ke is taraf mila gya. jab tak pelvic girgle nahi tootata hai, is tarah do paon ko nahi cheera jaa skta hai...chashme to koota gya jiske wajah se aankhon se khoon nikal gya....gala daba kar mara gya...ye pura post-mortem report me viral hua hai..."

Her statement can be translated to: “She had no clothes on her body. Her legs were 90 degrees apart...one on one side of the bed and other on the side of the bed...the legs cannot be torn apart like this unless the pelvic girdle breaks, which means she was torn apart. Her specs were broken, and there were shards of glass in her eyes. She was choked to death. I am not making this up. This has been proven in the post-mortem too...”

The incident reportedly took place on August 9, 2024. The woman's body, allegedly in half-naked condition, was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in the wee hours of August 9.

5 questions Kolkata murder case raises:

Several questions in the Kolkata rape and murder case have been raised as the investigation gets handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the Kolkata Police.  Some of them are:

1: Why was the rape-murder incident declared a "suicide" initially when injuries were visible all over the body?

The Kolkata Police said on Wednesday that the reports of police informing the family about a "possible suicide are false. The family confirmed the call did not come from KP". Meanwhile, the parents of the victim in their writ petition before the Calcutta High Court said the Assistant Superintendent of the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital had informed the petitioners that their daughter had committed suicide on the hospital premises.

Besides, reports claimed that the initial post-mortem said there was bleeding from both eyes and mouth and injuries over the face and nails. "She also has injuries in her belly, left leg... neck, in her right hand, ring finger and... lips" news agency PTI reported. She reportedly had bite marks as well.

So, when there were visible injuries on the body, how was it declared a suicide? This also leads to another question:

2. Was permission sought to use seminar room?

Arunava Dutta Chowdhury was quoted by the Times of India as saying, "A written permission is needed to use the [seminar] hall after working hours but I’m not aware if it was taken." According to the report, the seminar hall is supposed to be locked by 8.30 pm. Chowdhury said the keys of the hall were with the floor’s nursing superintendent.

3. Was there a cover-up? Why were the police informed about the incident late?

The "suicide" claim has sparked speculations about whether authorities tried to cover up and wanted to save somebody from the clutches of the law. During a hearing in the Calcutta High Court, the West Bengal government's counsel said that the police outpost at the medical college and hospital received information about the incident at 10.10 am, when the body might have been there since morning. "At 10:30 a.m. the local police viz. Tala Police Station was informed," the court shared details.

4. Are there more than one culprit? Was it a gang rape?

The Kolkata Police arrested and handed over the key suspect, Sanjoy Roy, to the CBI on Wednesday. However, Dr Raja Dha told the Mojo story that this might be the crime committed by multiple individuals, keeping in view multiple fractures and pelvic bone injuries. "I think there'll be two or more for sure...," he said in an interview.

Hours later, in a petition, the parents reportedly suspected a "gang rape", saying that the "autopsy found 150 mg of semen in the victim's body, lending credence to the family's allegation of a gang rape.

5. Evidence tampered?

Reports circulated on Wednesday about a "sudden construction" being carried out around "20 metres" away from the site where a resident doctor was raped and murdered.

Left-wing groups and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have accused authorities at the RG Kar hospital of attempting to tamper with evidence related to the Kolkata rape and murder case, under the guise of "renovation".

Meanwhile, News 18 reported that the protesting doctors sought accountability for potential evidence loss due to changes in the crime scene.

"We have come across reports of sudden civil reconstruction works in and around the scene of crime at the same institution. We are extremely apprehensive about the motive behind such an effort and we think that this might hamper the investigation by tampering with important evidence," the report cited a letter signed by Dr Koushik Chaki and Dr Sanjoy Holme Chowdhury.