Kolkata, August 29, 2024 — Audio recordings of phone calls allegedly made by authorities at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata have surfaced on social media, igniting a storm of controversy. The recordings, purportedly involving conversations between hospital officials and the parents of a deceased post-graduate trainee doctor, have led to accusations of both disinformation and insensitivity on the part of the hospital authorities.
The recordings, three in total, were shared widely across social platforms on Thursday, August 29. The clips, lasting 71 seconds, 46 seconds, and 28 seconds respectively, were also aired by a local television news channel. They feature the voices of the victim’s parents and a hospital official, and have intensified the already growing public scrutiny surrounding the tragic incident.
In the first two recordings, a hospital official can be heard informing the parents that their daughter was critically ill, urging them to come to the hospital immediately. The final and most distressing clip features a voice, identifying itself as the assistant superintendent of the hospital, delivering the harrowing news.
Despite the widespread circulation of these clips, the authenticity of the recordings has not been independently verified. Both the hospital authorities and the parents of the deceased have refrained from outright declaring the audio as fake, leaving room for speculation and further inquiry.
The victim’s father provided a timeline of events, stating that the first call from the hospital came in at 10:53 a.m. on August 9. Two additional calls followed before he and his wife reached the hospital, only to be confronted with the devastating reality of their daughter’s death.
The Kolkata Police, through Deputy Commissioner Indrani Mukherjee of the Central Division, responded to the release of the audio clips. Mukherjee noted that the recordings align with what the police had maintained from the beginning: that they had never claimed the death was a suicide. The implication here is that the police’s role in communicating the circumstances surrounding the death was potentially misrepresented by other parties.
Further complicating the narrative, the parents of the victim raised concerns about discrepancies they observed upon seeing their daughter’s body. They reported that it was covered with a blue sheet, while they believed their daughter had been using a green and red sheet. This detail fueled their suspicions and added to the mounting questions about the handling of the case.
Addressing these concerns, Deputy Commissioner Mukherjee clarified that the police’s records showed the body was indeed covered with a blue sheet at the crime scene. The sheet was seized and later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further examination. Mukherjee dismissed the claims of a green sheet, stating categorically that there was no evidence of it in the photographic or video records from the crime scene. She did confirm, however, that a red cloth belonging to the victim was recovered from the scene.
The incident, which took place in a seminar room on the third floor of the hospital’s emergency building, has shocked the community. The inquest and post-mortem examinations have revealed clear signs of sexual assault, a revelation that has only intensified the outcry. The CBI has since taken over the investigation, focusing on allegations of foul play and the possibility of the crime scene being tampered with.
Earlier footage from the seminar room has also come under scrutiny. The video shows several individuals, including doctors and police officers, inside the room where the body was found. In response to allegations that the crime scene was compromised, the Kolkata Police clarified that the area immediately surrounding the body was cordoned off, and the people in the footage were several meters away from the victim.
The brutal rape and murder of the post-graduate trainee doctor have not only raised serious questions about the security and protocol within medical institutions but also about the broader systemic issues in handling such sensitive cases. The investigation by the CBI is ongoing, and the public awaits further revelations in this tragic case.
