The parents of the 32 year-old junior doctor, who was raped and killed at the state-run RG Kar hospital last year August, have said they are yet to receive her death certificate and have been running from pillar to post for it.
“We have not got our daughter’s death certificate. Last year in August-September, I spoke to the MSVP (medical superintendent and vice-principal) of the (RG Kar) hospital. He informed me that he would arrange it. Then months passed by, and he did nothing. I was forced to write an application last month. Then the MSVP said that he would arrange the death certificate in two days. The RG Kar (hospital) told us to collect the certificate from the Borough office of our area… The Borough office told us that the cremation certificate states the place of death as RG Kar hospital. Therefore, the Borough office cannot give the death certificate, and the hospital will have to provide it. We again approached the hospital. Again, the MSVP asked for more time, saying he would take special permission from the state Health Department and then provide the certificate. It has been close to a month now and we are still waiting for my daughter’s death certificate,” the father of the junior doctor told The Indian Express.
According to officials at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, they have already written to the health department on Friday and will inform the family on Monday.
“We will not write to anyone. We will wait till Monday and ask the MSVP that in case the hospital cannot provide the death certificate then to give in writing the reason why it is unable to provide it,” the father of the junior doctor said.
Last month, the court sentenced the sole accused in the rape and murder case, Sanjoy Roy, to life imprisonment, saying the crime did not fall under the “rarest of the rare” category.
The rape and murder of the trainee doctor on August 9 last year had led to widespread and prolonged protests across the country.
Reiterating the allegations of cover-up in the case, the father of the junior doctor on Sunday said: “I feel that when we had reached the hospital after hearing about my daughter, she was still alive which is why we were not allowed to see her. Everyone who was there including the then Kolkata Police Commissioner was waiting for my daughter to die. That is what we feel because from the very beginning efforts were made to cover up the entire incident.”
The CBI, which is also probing the alleged cover-up and negligence on the part of the police and hospital authorities, failed to submit a chargesheet within the stipulated 90 days, leading to the court granting bail to former principal of RG Kar hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and local OC in-charge Abhijhit Mondal.
“Are we wrong to hit the streets to demand justice for our dead child or are we wrong in demanding the resignation of Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee)? Why are we being harassed?” the father of the trainee doctor said.