Kolkata doctor murder: Pockets of insecurity dot govt hospital campuses, say docs, staff & patients' kin
Times of India | 12 August 2024
Desolate stretches on the RG Kar hospital campus and (right) on the Calcutta Medical College & Hospital premises KOLKATA: Almost every govt-run hospital campus has a few pockets where women - patients, their kin and even hospital staffers - complain of "a feeling of insecurity, especially at night". Following the rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor on RG Kar Medical College and Hospital premises, TOI visited several govt hospitals and spoke to woman doctors, nurses and patients' relatives to find the vulnerable zones.
At RG Kar Hospital, there are at least two desolate stretches - one behind the emergency building and another near the mortuary next to the wall beside railway tracks.
"There are some stretches on the hospital premises that we dread at night where outsiders drink, smoke and pass lewd comments at women - be it staffers or relatives of patients. But now that my colleague has been brutalized and killed in the safety of the hospital building, I don't know where we can feel safe," said a second-year MBBS student.
At Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, the stretch that connects the main campus with Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, the stretch on campus next to the gate near STM and the area behind the academic building are notorious for illicit activities.
"I was heading to the toilet around 2 am last week when some men started following me from near the academic building. They were sitting in a group and once they saw me, they started calling out and then chased me. I started running and thankfully spotted two security guards and sought their help. Seeing the guards, the men fled," said a woman whose son had been admitted to the hospital.
Doctors and staffers said outsiders hanging around the campus was a common issue in all govt hospitals but it was most felt on large campuses, like Calcutta Medical College, where outsiders are mostly brought in by group D staffers and doms who live on the premises. "They create trouble for doctors. They burst crackers and play loud music during festivals, causing discomfort to patients," said a PGT at the hospital.
At NRS Hospital, the stretch next to the mortuary and the corners of the field next to it are known for such illicit activities.
An SSKM Hospital nurse said the stretch next to the gas-troenterology building and a stretch towards the hospital kitchen are particularly risky for women. "There have been two instances in the recent past when nurses were followed at night," the nurse said.