India’s Supreme Court, on its own, has taken up the rape-murder case of the Kolkata doctor that has shocked the country and thrown the medical fraternity in a turmoil.
A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear the matter tomorrow.
The top court’s move came as some junior doctors remained off the job yesterday, demanding swift justice for the murder incident, despite the end of a 24-hour strike called by the country’s biggest association of doctors, reports Reuters.
The case is already being heard by the Calcutta High Court, which, during a hearing last week, ordered that the probe be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI, overriding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ultimatum to the state police.
If the police were unable to solve the case by Sunday (yesterday), the CBI will take over, she had said.
The case went to the High Court after the woman’s parents, and a few others, unhappy with the police investigation, filed an appeal. The court made its displeasure with the police and the administration clear, reports NDTV online.
Questions have been raised against the police handling of the case since the beginning — including the delay in allowing the women’s parents to see the body, the postmortem report, and the prompt arrest of a civic volunteer, making it an open and shut case.
On and off the record, doctors have commented that the extent of the woman’s injuries indicate the involvement of more than one attacker. There have also been reports that the police cremated the body in a hurry, which the Kolkata Police have denied.
The state’s opposition BJP has been alleging that the police is involved in a massive cover-up to protect the guilty.
Their allegation got a boost after a midnight attack on the hospital on August 15, as the statewide women’s “Reclaim the Night” demonstration was on. With the attackers wrecking the emergency department, the BJP said it was another attempt at obliterating evidence.
In a social media post yesterday, Suvendu Adhikari, leader of the opposition in West Bengal, claimed that the viscera of the doctor was “changed” by the Kolkata Police. He also alleged tampering of other evidence.
