Days after the horrific rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee female doctor in Kolkata’s RG Medical Hospital, her parents told the media that they are not satisfied with the state government’s action in their case and slammed the Chief Minister for indulging in “duplicity”. While interacting with the media on Sunday (18th August), the grieving parents said they had lost faith in CM Mamata Banerjee. They explained that while she is ‘doing protest to demand Justice in their daughter’s case’, she is suppressing public anger and trying to stop the protest that is seeking Justice for their daughter.
They further stated that the Police didn’t do a good job at all and only tried to hush up their daughter’s case. According to them, the Police hurried their daughter’s post-mortem and attempted to remove her body as soon as possible. Her father said that even when three bodies were present at the crematorium, their daughter’s body was cremated first. They said that no one from the department or the college cooperated with them and added that the “entire department” was involved in the incident.
Speaking with news agency ANI, her father said that they are not satisfied with CM Mamata Banerjee as they accused her of putting common people who are seeking Justice for their daughter in jail.
He said, “The CM is talking about providing justice, but then attempts are being made to put the common people demanding justice in jail. We are not satisfied with the CM. We have refused to take any compensation…”
Expressing disappointment with the initial inquiry, he added, “No results have come out of the inquiry that is being done. We hope we will get results… No one from the department or the college cooperated with us. The entire department is involved in this… There were three bodies at the crematorium but our daughter’s body was cremated first…”
Her mother also criticised CM Banerjee stating, “She (Mamata Banerjee) said that the culprit will be arrested as soon as possible, but nothing has happened so far. One person has been arrested. I am sure many more are involved in this incident. I think the entire department is responsible for the incident… The police did not do a good job at all. I feel that the Chief Minister is trying to stop the protest, today she imposed Section 144 here so that people cannot protest.”
Responding to a query about the Police Commissioner, she said, “They did not cooperate with us at all, they only tried to hush up the case as soon as possible. Their attempt was to get the post-mortem done as soon as possible and remove the body.”
The parents of the deceased female trainee doctor who was raped and murdered on 9th August also recalled the devastating moment when they first saw their daughter’s body, battered and draped only in a bed sheet.
They recalled the late-night call that initially informed them that their daughter was sick. When they contacted the caller back, they were asked to rush to the hospital as the administration informed them that their daughter had allegedly committed ‘suicide’.
Recounting the initial response of the Hospital administration in the case, her mother told ANI, “First we got a call from the hospital that your daughter is sick, then the call was disconnected. After that when I called and asked what happened, they told me to come to the hospital. When we called again, the (caller) identified himself as Assistant Super and said your daughter has committed suicide. She went to duty on Thursday, we got this call on Friday at 10:53 am. When we reached there, we were not allowed to see her, we were allowed to see her at 3 o’clock.”
She added, “Her pants were open, there was only one piece of cloth on her body. Her hand was broken, blood was coming out of her eyes, mouth. Just by looking at her, it seemed that someone had murdered her. I told them it is not suicide, it’s a murder. We worked so hard to make our daughter a doctor but she was murdered.”
Speaking with NDTV, the father also stated that the initial call informed him that his daughter had allegedly died by suicide. It is pertinent to note that the autopsy report has revealed that it is a case of rape and murder.
He told NDTV, “I received a call at 11 pm, reached the hospital at 12 am, and only at 3:30 am did I finally see her body. Only I know what I went through when I saw her. There were no clothes on her body. She was only draped in a bedsheet. Her legs were apart, with one hand on her head.”
He added, “We have lost everything; we have nothing left. We want justice.”
Strikingly, facing mounting criticism over the government’s mishandling of the case, CM Banerjee took out a protest rally from Moulali to the Dorina Crossing area of Kolkata on Friday to demand Justice for the woman doctor.
Referring to her protest march, the father of the deceased victim took a dig at her and said that he had lost faith in Mamata Banerjee.
He said, “Early on, I had full faith in her, but now, no. She is asking for justice, but what is she saying that for? She can take charge of that; she is doing nothing.”
While speaking with reporters earlier, he raised questions on CM Banerjee’s “duplicity”.
He said, “The Chief Minister speaks at length, walking the streets demanding justice for my daughter. Yet, at the same time, she attempts to suppress public anger. Why is she engaging in duplicity? Is she afraid of people? We have questions that need answers. Those who are protesting freely are finding their voices stifled by the Chief Minister. While she herself takes to the streets in protest, she is simultaneously making arrangements to ensure that others’ protests do not take place.”
The victim’s mother, standing next to her husband, also slammed the Banerjee government and highlighted the grave concerns of women’s safety in Bengal.
Citing Mamata Banerjee government’s scheme names, she urged Bengalis to first ask for the safety of their daughters before availing of any of these pseudo schemes.
She said, “All the schemes by Mamata Banerjee – the Kanyashree scheme, the Lakshmi scheme – all pseudo. Whoever wants to avail of these schemes, before availing them, kindly see if your Lakshmi at home is safe at all.”
Meanwhile, she also expressed gratitude to all those protesting and raising their voice to seek Justice for their daughter and urged them to continue their support till the culprits are caught.
She said, “Through you (media), we want to give a message to the people of the whole country. We are grateful to all the countrymen, people of the world, and the state, we request that you stand with us until the accused is caught. We only wish that this should not happen to any mother, no one should lose their child like us…”
