IMPORTANT POINT
Rape and murder of lady Doctor inside hospital – Unrestricted access to every part of healthcare institutions has made healthcare professionals susceptible to violence – Women are at particular risk of sexual and non-sexual violence in these settings – Preserving safe conditions of work is central to realizing equality of opportunity to every working professional.

ORDER :

1. On 9 August, 2024, a thirty-one year old postgraduate doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata who was on a thirty six hour duty shift was murdered and allegedly raped inside the seminar room of the hospital. As horrific details have emerged in the course of media reportage, the brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime have shocked the conscience of the Nation. The name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity.

2. Writ petitions were instituted before the Calcutta High Court seeking among other things, a court-monitored investigation of the crime and the conduct of the hospital authorities, including the role of the Principal of the medical college and other officials by a special team of investigating officers. It has been alleged that the parents of the deceased were initially informed that their daughter had committed suicide; they were permitted to see the dead body after several hours and a first information report in regard to the murder was registered belatedly by the police after several hours.

3. By its order dated 13 August 2024, the High Court transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

4. Following the incident, agitations and protests were called by doctors’ associations, student bodies and civic groups across the country. On the eve of Independence Day, several areas in Kolkata saw protests spurred by the ‘Reclaim the Night’ campaign. At 12.30 am on 15 August, when a protest was underway at the hospital, a large mob assembled at the premises of the RG Kar Medical College Hospital and vandalized the Emergency Ward and other departments of the hospital. Following the acts of wanton destruction and vandalism, the Indian Medical Association (a private and voluntary organization of doctors in India) called for a nation- wide withdrawal of medical services, except emergency services, for twenty-four hours on 17 August 2024.

5. In the aftermath of the brutal incident and the demonstrations which followed, the State Government was expected to ensure the deployment of the state machinery to prevent a breach of law and order. It was all the more necessary to do so since investigation of the crime which took place in the precincts of the hospital was under way. We are unable to comprehend how the State was not prepared to deal with the incident of vandalization of the premises of the hospital.

6. Nation-wide protests following the brutal incident in RG Kar Medical College Hospital have brought the issue of the lack of institutional safety for doctors to the forefront. Medical Associations have consistently raised issues of the lack of workplace safety in health care institutions. Medical professionals in the performance of their duties have been unfortunate targets of various forms of violence. Hospitals and medical care facilities are open throughout the day and night. Medical professionals - doctors, nurses and paramedic staff - work round the clock. Unrestricted access to every part of healthcare institutions has made healthcare professionals susceptible to violence. Patients of relatives in anguish are quick to attribute untoward results to the negligence of medical professionals. Such allegations are immediately followed by violence against medical professionals. In May 2024, two on-duty doctors were allegedly attacked by relatives of a patient who died during treatment in a hospital in West- Bengal. ¹[https://medicaldialogues.in/news/health/doctors/mob-attack-2-surgeons-brutally-attacked-after- patient-death-admitted-in-icu-128063] In another incident in May 2024 in Bihar, following the death of a twenty-five year old pregnant patient, a nurse was allegedly pushed off the first floor of the building by the kin of the patient. ²[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pregnant-womans-death-sparks-violence-by-kin-nurse-thrown-off-1st-floor-of-bihar-nursing-home/articleshow/11047573