Indian citizen groups, individuals from across the globe write an open letter to CJI on Kolkata’s R.G. Kar rape and murder case  

Open letter to Chief Justice of India regarding R.G. Kar rape and murder case demands justice and accountability.

A thousand individuals and over 55 organisations such as South Asian Solidarity Collective, WAYVE Foundation, Lawyers Collective, CPI(M) and Adivasi Women’s Network, have written an open letter to the Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud in the R.G. Kar rape and murder case on Sunday (September 15, 2024).

The petition has mentioned nine demands, such as identification, arrest and exemplary punishment of the rapists and murderers. The Supreme Court must change the composition of the National Task Force (NTF) and include doctors, students, activists and lawyers from the regional fraternity for an effective and informed fact finding regarding the rape and murder of the trainee doctor and institutional lapses, corruption rackets in the health sector. The NTF needs to consult the protesting doctors, students and women, feminist organisations, and platforms who have been working on this issue and are significant stakeholders in this movement. Directive to institute a Special Fast Track Court, along with necessary infrastructure to expedite the trial processes, once the case is transferred to the Sessions Court in Bengal. Directives to penalise errant police officials, local party workers and anyone who launch physical assault on peaceful protesters and disrupt citizen assemblies in various parts of Bengal.

The letter reads, “As feminist, student, mass organisations and individual citizens from across the country, along with Reclaim the Night, Reclaim the Rights [RTNRTR] Movement in West Bengal are dismayed that even after ‘suo moto’ cognizance of the R.G. Kar rape and murder by the SC, the case is at a standstill. The SC has failed to address the grievance, anger and rage of protesting people. A month has gone by, but the CBI is yet to reveal any findings of the gruesome rape and murder.”

The petitioners also raised concerns over the Supreme Court’s remark in the last hearing and wrote, “The SC shifted its focus only to the protesting doctors as guilty [endorsed by Mr. Kapil Sibal] of the breakdown of the West Bengal health system. We want the SC to deliberate on the delayed investigations and purported protection of perpetrators, followed by attacks on citizen protests.”

The petitioners further stressed on the fact that the brutal rape and murder of the trainee doctor at R.G. Kar hospital is not an isolated incident but connected to different incidents of sexual violence and gender discrimination at workplace and in the public that have been rapidly increasing throughout the country. The group also pointed out at the failure of Prevention of Sexual Harassment [PoSH] Act at workplace. Concerns have been raised regarding the National Task Force instituted by SC in RG Kar to review the institutional safety standards of restroom, toilets, hostels, transport, sanitation etc. and address the vulnerability of medical professionals within healthcare institutions.

“The perpetrators in this case have actively tried to cover up the crime, destroyed evidence and spread fear amidst students. While the CBI investigation has only till now led to the arrest of Sandip Ghosh and some of his accomplices, it is the pressure of the ongoing citizen protests that first, Sandip Ghosh was suspended and now 3 doctors of SSKM and North Bengal University are suspended,” the petition read.

Opposing the West Bengal government’s Aparajita Women and Child Bill for stringent punishment in cases of sexual assault, the petition said, “We oppose the Aparajita Bill that has been produced by the TMC without any consultation with citizens. As feminists, we are opposed to capital punishment as it is a populist measure to quell public outrage and does not ensure the due process for women seeking justice.”