Kolkata: RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in this city, currently embroiled in a nationwide controversy over the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, has a dark and troubled past marked by a series of unexplained deaths. A disturbing pattern has emerged, where hospital authorities have consistently downplayed or dismissed these incidents, including the recent tragedy, as suicides or accidents, raising suspicions of a cover-up.
Those familiar with the operation of the medical college said that the institution has been embroiled in a series of damning scandals in the past two decades. Let’s take a look at some of them.
August 25, 2001: Soumitra Biswas, a fourth-year medical student, was found hanging in his hostel room at the medical college. Authorities were quick to call it a suicide. However, after the family of the victim, and other students, raised a hue and cry, the Calcutta High Court stepped in and ordered an investigation by the Crime Investigation Department (CID).
The CID sleuths arrested Auromitra Das, a fellow student, during the investigation. However, the case remains unresolved, and Soumitra’s death is still shrouded in mystery. The victim’s mother had long suspected foul play, alleging that her son was done to death after discovering illicit activities on campus.
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Significantly, during investigation allegations of a pornography ring operating within the college hostel, involving the exploitation of sex workers and even bodies surfaced. These allegations were even supported by corroboration by students who claimed that Soumitra had been targeted after he exposed these sleazy happenings.
First week of February 2003: Arijit Dutta, a 24-year-old house staff committed suicide by ‘cutting his veins and then jumping off the roof’ of the main hostel building of the hospital (TOI, February 6, 2003). He was a resident of Bamunpara, Suri, in the Birbhum district. No initial reason was reported for the suspicious death/ suicide as no note or any other indication was found. Arijit’s father, Swaraj Dutta, reportedly told the police that he couldn’t say why his son wanted to kill himself. The mystery behind the case still remains unsolved.
May 1, 2020: Poulami Shah, a 25-year-old second-year Post Graduate Trainee at the sick neonatal care unit of the hospital allegedly jumped from the 6th floor of the medical college building around 11 am before starting her shift at the fever clinic of the hospital. Following the incident, police said they had ‘learnt’ that she had been suffering from depression for the past few days before the incident (Indian Express, May 1, 2020). However, no suicide note was found, and the circumstances surrounding her death remained unclear. Moreover, like in Soumitra’s case, Poulami’s death has left many unanswered questions, with friends and colleagues pointing to depression, possibly exacerbated by her work in the Covid-19 clinic, as a potential factor.
Nevertheless, the recent tragic event and the unresolved cases of the past have cast a long shadow over RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Allegations of institutional negligence and the failure of proper investigation into a series of deaths have led to calls for greater accountability and transparency.
The present outrage and nationwide protests are a stark reminder that the issues at hand are far from being resolved, and the truth behind these tragic deaths must be uncovered to ensure the safety and well-being of the students and staff at the institution.
With the CBI taking over the probe, the focus has also shifted to the medical college’s dark past. Only the outcome of the probe will determine whether the happenings at the institutions were isolated personal tragedies or part of a larger systemic issue.
PNN