RG Kar rape and murder: She hummed while she worked, colleagues of slain recall
Telegraph | 8 August 2025
She was equally passionate about pulmonary medicine and music, and often hummed while working, a colleague of the junior doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year said on Thursday — two days before the date that marks a year since the crime that shocked the nation.
The colleague, who was the slain doctor’s senior, said he thinks about the young doctor every day and shudders to imagine how her parents’ lives have been changed.
Now working in another city after completing his postgraduation, he said that in the final months of his course, it became difficult to work in the rooms where the slain doctor once worked. “Her memories haunted me. How could this have happened?”
He recalled her dedication to pulmonary medicine. “She wanted to pursue a DM in the subject. She also loved music — especially Rabindrasangeet and modern Bengali music like songs by Anupam Roy. She would hum while on duty in the ward,” he said.
“I lost a really good friend and colleague,” he added.
He said he cannot comprehend the horror her parents endured. “Their lives changed in one night.”
The 31-year-old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar was found dead in the seminar room of the hospital’s Emergency Building on August 9 last year.
Sanjoy Roy, then a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, was found guilty of the rape and murder.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), formed during last year’s movement, has called a torch rally from College Square to the Shyambazar five-point crossing, starting at 9pm on Friday. Junior doctors will stay at Shyambazar from midnight until 4am on Saturday. A dais will be erected on Bhupen Bose Avenue, said a junior doctor.
“Since the doctor was raped and murdered during this time on August 9 last year, we decided to hold a vigil through these hours,” he said.
A protest on the RG Kar premises is also planned from 6pm on Saturday.
A batchmate of the slain doctor remembered her as someone serious about work. He said he could not believe the brutality she faced inside the hospital where she spent so much of her time.
“When I first heard what had happened, I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it had happened to her,” he said.
“We joined the same year and same department for our postgraduate studies. In PG, most of your time is spent in hospital attending to patients. So we spent a lot of time in the wards,” he added.
He recalled a department picnic at a riverside spot in Hooghly they had attended together.
Both colleagues voiced dissatisfaction with the investigation. “There is still doubt in our minds whether more people were involved, directly or indirectly,” said one of them.