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RG Kar rape-murder verdict on January 18: News18 spoke to the parents of the woman, later given the moniker Abhaya, who said they are convinced that Sanjay Roy was not the only one involved and want the Supreme Court and High Court to give them…Read More
The brutal rape-murder took place at RG Kar Hospital on August 9, 2024. (PTI)
As the Seldeah court’s verdict day (January 18) nears, the parents of a 31-year-old woman doctor, who was called Abhaya after her rape and murder at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last year, want death penalty for the main accused, Sanjay Roy. They also insist there should be “action against all accused”, as they suspect the hand of more people in the rape-murder.
On August 9, 2024, the brutal rape and murder shook the nation. The outrage soon took the form of a movement, with medical professionals putting down their scalpels to raise a key question through their banners – Who will keep the saviours safe in their workplace?
The doubts over the role of the hospital administration, police and state led to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) taking charge of the case on August 13. The charges against the prime accused, Sanjoy Roy, were framed on December 4. In its conclusion on January 9, the CBI sought death for the accused.
In the run-up to the verdict, News18 is looking at all key angles of the incident. We first started by speaking to the parents of the woman in Sodpur.
Devastated, and who their acquaintances say are still “agonisingly waiting for their daughter’s return”, the parents questioned the role of their ex-lawyer Vrinda Grover, who they allege refused their request to challenge the CBI charge sheetand instead quit the case.
Edited excerpts:
What are your expectations from the judgment?
Five months or five years later, it does not matter. We are living for justice. We have nothing left in our lives now. We hope Roy will get capital punishment. There was biological evidence that Roy was present at the spot, but we don’t believe that he was the only one who raped and killed Abhaya. We put forth 39 questions to the CBI in court, we hope to get answers. We have sent our questions to the Supreme Court and hope they will do something and transfer this case to the High Court. The Supreme Court is in Delhi. We don’t have much money and contacts to fight there. We don’t know what the CBI and state are doing. We requested Grover to object to the CBI charge sheet, which she was not ready to do. When we requested her a couple of times, she left the case suddenly. She has not done right by us.
On what basis are you saying that more than one person was involved?
A microbiologist told me it cannot be done by one person. The DNA report says so. We want proper answers. The way she died can’t be the act of one person. They all think nothing will happen, but we will fight.
What are your expectations from the judgment?
A proper investigation has not been done. Outsiders can’t come inside the hospital and do all this. Insiders must have been involved. I believe some from the chest department might be involved. The CBI has not even questioned those in the chest department. We were not happy with the Kolkata Police. We wanted a proper investigation by an agency, but the CBI did nothing.
So many people protested inside the hospital. Why do you think nobody said anything about other people’s direct involvement?
The chest medicine department was not interrogated properly. They have not even seen the duty roster. What is this? Something is definitely wrong.
How will you take this forward?
Can you imagine my daughter was raped in her workplace? Seema Pahuja from the CBI said a lot of things in court. We had no faith in the Kolkata Police. The court thought the CBI should do it. We have to keep pressure on the court, and we will do that. We need justice.
What would you like to say to the people who protested?
Our disappointment will never go away. People should come out and fightand we will also fight. We have to continue this fight so that no woman faces the same fate as Abhaya. We can’t even call our daughter by her name. Our life is finished, but we will fight.
Tomorrow: After being on the roads for justice and sitting on a hunger strike, what do the junior doctors expect from the RG Kar judgement?
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