On August 9, 2024, a young trainee doctor, exhausted after a 36-hour shift, decided to rest in the seminar hall of her hospital — a decision that cost her her life. Abhaya, as she is now known in the nation’s collective consciousness, was brutally raped and murdered in Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital, triggering a massive uprising in not just the state but across the country as people took to the roads demanding justice.
Five months later, Judge Anirban Das of the Sealdah Court is expected to pronounce his judgment in the horrific case that saw the arrest of the accused — civic volunteer Sanjay Roy — within 24 hours. If found guilty, Roy’s quantum of punishment could be announced the next day.
The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which arrested RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh and Tala Thana OC Abhijit Mondal, accusing them of being involved in a larger conspiracy. However, the two were released on bail in the absence of sufficient evidence.
The RG Kar case brought Bengal’s ordinary citizens to the roads as they demanded justice for the young woman. On August 14, as the streets reverberated with protests, some miscreants attacked the hospital and ransacked the emergency wing.
This provoked the agitating students further who went on a hunger strike, seeking the strongest punishment for Ghosh and the removal of the Kolkata Police Commissioner.
The parents of Abhaya, meanwhile, expressed lack of faith in the probe and approached the Calcutta High Court as well as the Supreme Court. On Saturday, students of RG Kar will gather outside the court with several questions that they claim are still unanswered in the case.
For now, all eyes will be on the Sealdah Court as the country waits for justice with bated breath.
