‘Why was money offered?’: BJP demands answers in Kolkata doctor rape-murder case
BJP MP Sambit Patra on Friday demanded answers from the West Bengal government, led by Mamata Banerjee, over what he described as an attempt to cover up the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
“A person offers money when he is corrupt and tries to hide something,” Patra said at a press conference.
“What was there that had to be hidden by the government of Mamata Banerjee, and why was money offered to the victim’s father? We want answers to these crucial questions. We want the answers to the questions raised by the victim’s father.”
What are the allegations levelled by victim’s family?
On Wednesday night, the father of the murdered junior doctor said that police rushed the family into cremating her even though they wanted to keep her body for some time.
“We wanted to keep the body of our daughter but extraordinary pressure was mounted on us and the body was cremated,” the grieving father said during a protest at the RG Kar Medical College.
“I gave him a piece of my mind and refused to take any money,” he said, without specifying why the money was offered.
Patra said, “The questions that the victim’s father has laid in front of the nation today are of paramount importance. On the foundation of these questions, is based the investigation and the outcome of the investigation.”
He listed the questions that the victim’s father has put forth to the public. “The first question was that the victim’s father said when the body of the victim was in their house, the District Collector offered him money. He refused him the offer. Can you think what would be the mental state of the father after the brutal murder of his daughter?”
Patra continued by highlighting the family’s alleged treatment by the authorities on the day they were informed of their daughter’s death. “The second question is that on August 10, the family of the victim was aware that their daughter was murdered. They were informed of the incident at 11am and were told that the daughter had committed suicide. The family was kept waiting outside the seminar hall for three hours. The father was asked to go to the principal’s office. What was the authority and the police trying to do, thereby keeping them waiting?”
One of the most serious allegations raised by Patra was that the family was coerced into signing a blank document. “The most important thing is that the family was asked to sign on a blank paper by the police and the authorities. Why were they asked to do so?” he asked.