Within a week after the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old post graduate trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the third floor of the pulmonary medicine department in the hospital's emergency building underwent renovations.
The crime scene, or the seminar hall where the body of the trainee doctor was found on the morning of 9 August, was on the same floor of the said building.
Even as questions were raised over the West Bengal government's urgency to carry out the renovations, including by the Calcutta High Court on 16 August, The Quint has found that the permissions necessary for the renovation work were not sought by the hospital authorities.
Established in 1886, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, as per the Kolkata Municipality Corporation (KMC), falls under Grade IIB of the 'heritage building' category. Grade IIB is one of the gradings for heritage structures in Kolkata wherein new construction in the open land within the premises, and horizontal and vertical addition and alteration to the building, may be allowed, in compatible manner with the heritage building.
A member of the KMC's Heritage Conservation Committee, who did not want to be named, confirmed to The Quint that they did not receive any request for permission from RG Kar Hospital to carry out any refurbishments, thereby essentially violating a rule.
Former KMC mayor and CPM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, too, told The Quint,
"People who own such buildings, they must seek permission from the Heritage Conservation Committee to demolish or renovate the structure. However, no such permission was sought from the panel – and the work rather was started in a haste in this case."
Row Over Renovations
Last week, after media reports surfaced about renovations being carried out on the third floor of the emergency building – and doubts were raised about "destruction of evidence" – the hospital administration confirmed the news. However, they claimed that no renovations were undertaken inside the seminar room.
A hospital administrator told The Times of India that the renovation, being carried out by the Public Works Department (PWD), is "to create more amenities for post graduate trainee and junior doctors" and not as an attempt to "tamper with evidence".
.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fmt=webp&width=720)
Last week, after media reports surfaced about renovations being carried out on the third floor of the emergency building – and doubts were raised about "destruction of evidence".
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint).
On 16 August, the Calcutta High Court pulled up the state government, saying,
"What was the urgency? You go to any district court complex, see if ladies have any restrooms! I say this with responsibility. What has the PWD done? We'll shift patients to another hospital, close the (RG Kar) hospital. That will be the best. All the stories – 'within 12 hours restrooms have to be provided' – see the condition of the restrooms in the court complexes!"
The two-bench judges were responding to the state counsel denying in the high court that the renovation work was carried out to tamper with the evidence.
Earlier, as the protests turned violent on the night of 14 August after a mob attacked the hospital, the invaders had also allegedly vandalised the third floor.
As the protests turned violent on the night of 14 August after a mob attacked the hospital, the invaders had left several beds broken.
(Photo: PTI)
Mohammad Tauseef Rahman, a spokesperson of the Trinamool Congress, however, denied accusations that there was an attempt to tamper with evidence under the guise of carrying out renovation work.
"You will have to ask the hospital authorities as to who exactly sanctioned the renovation work, but it is wrong to accuse our party of trying to tamper with evidence. There is no solid proof of it."Mohammad Tauseef Rahman told The Quint
What Happens Next?
The member of the KMC's Heritage Conservation Committee told The Quint that the panel will examine whether the recent renovations are compatible with the guidelines listed for Grade IIB heritage buildings or not – and then decide on the course of action.
A source within the KMC, who did not want to be named, claimed to The Quint that the renovation work was in fact not as per the guidelines specified for the Grade IIB heritage category status.
RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's Deputy Superintendent (Non-Medical) Anindya Ray and Assistant Superintendent (Non-Medical) Debalina Sengupta have not responded to The Quint's queries on the allegations made by the heritage panel and the KMC. The article will be updated as and when they respond.
Questions are also being raised whether the PWD, which is responsible for the maintenance of the structure, had any role to play in this renovation.
While the West Bengal government took control of RG Kar Hospital in 1958, the maintenance of the structure is the PWD's responsibility. A senior official of the department told Ananda Bazar Patrika that any maintenance work by the department on RG Kar is carried out only after hospital authorities give permission. The official added that the hospital did not issue any permission for maintenance recently.
Unanswered Questions About Seminar Room
Meanwhile, doubts are also being raised over who opened the seminar room, where the body of the trainee doctor was found on the morning of 9 August, the previous day.
The seminar room is typically used to conduct classes and is usually locked up during nighttime.
Dr Arunava Dutta Chowdhury, head of the pulmonary medicine department, told The Quint, "The said seminar room is used for conducting classes. As per rule, after classes are over, which is usually in the evenings, the key to the room is deposited with the floor sister-in-charge on duty."
Confirming that the seminar room of the said department is supposed to remain locked after classes, Krishna Saha, nursing superintendent of RG Kar Hospital, told The Quint, "I don't know who took the key that day."
"The key to the room is deposited in a box with the floor sister-in-charge on duty. Usually, doctors when they need to use the room inform the sister before retrieving the key from the box and then deposit it back there again. So, there is an almost a zero percent chance that any outsider can get their hands on the key."
The victim's family have been quoted in media reports as raising doubts about whether the crime scene was the seminar hall at all, adding that it was possible that more than one person was involved in the crime. So far, Kolkata Police have arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, for the crime. Days later, and amid growing protests in solidarity with the victim, Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal told the media, “We have never said that there is only one person [accused]. We have said that we are waiting for scientific evidence, and it takes time."
Last week, Dr Chowdhury told the media that classes were held in the seminar room of the pulmonary medicine department until 4 pm on 8 August. After that, the room was locked, as per rules.
When asked whether doctors on duty used the seminar room at night, Dr Chowdhury said he had no inkling of such a thing as he had taken charge of the department just eight days before the incident.
Krishna Saha, however, told The Quint that doctors frequently used the seminar hall to study at night.
"The seminar room does not always remain locked after classes. Students use it to study at night many a times," she said.
"On the day of the incident, there were just four nurses on duty in four wards. We nurses cannot tell if someone has taken the key to the seminar hall or not. It is the sister-in-charge's duty."
"As per rules, doctors are supposed to deposit the key back into the box after utilisation of the facility. But no one other than a doctor can get the key."Krishna Saha, nursing superintendent, RGMCH
When The Quint reached out to the hospital's authorities, they refused to divulge info on who the sister-in-charge was, if she has been questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yet, and who had taken the key on the night of the incident.
'No CCTV in Seminar Hall'
Krishna Saha also confirmed to The Quint that there is no CCTV camera inside the seminar hall.
"There was never any need of a CCTV camera inside the seminar hall before because it was safe. No one ever thought that such an incident will take place within the premises of the hospital. There is a CCTV camera at the entrance of the elevator in the emergency building... But the distance from the elevator to the seminar hall is quite a bit. And since there are wards near the seminar hall, no nurses are stationed near it," she told The Quint.
The CBI, which is probing the case, on Saturday, 18 August, extensively videographed the seminar room using 3D imaging for nearly 10 hours.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)