The body of a 24-year-old nurse found dead Thursday at a private nursing home in West Bengal’s Singur was taken to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kalyani early Saturday morning for a post-mortem. This was after the family members objected to the autopsy being conducted at Medical College, Kolkata.
According to AIIMS sources, the autopsy began at 10 am in the presence of a magistrate and the nurse’s family members, and the entire process was being video-graphed.
Speaking to the media, the nurse’s father said, “We do not have any faith in the state police or administration, which is why we want the autopsy to be conducted by a Central hospital. Also, we want a central agency to conduct the probe into my daughter’s death.”
The family of the deceased alleged that she was sexually assaulted and subsequently murdered after she uncovered irregularities in the nursing home’s operations. However, the management denied all such allegations, stating that she died by suicide.
The deceased, a resident of the Purba Medinipur district, had joined the nursing home just four days before her death.
Her father filed a complaint at the local police station, accusing the hospital of murder. He demanded videography of the autopsy in the presence of a magistrate to ensure transparency.
The police said the nurse’s mobile phone had been examined. Sources indicated that messages recovered from WhatsApp revealed the victim had a heated argument with her boyfriend, who was refusing to marry her due to their age difference.
The police have already taken the nursing home owner and her boyfriend into custody for questioning. A senior police officer said that during interrogation, the boyfriend confirmed that the nurse was depressed after she refused to marry her as she was older than him.
The body was first taken to Walsh Hospital in Serampore for the post-mortem. However, the family felt that the hospital lacked proper facilities, and the police insisted on transferring the body to Kolkata.
A protest broke out and demonstrators, including BJP supporters, clashed with police in an attempt to break into the hospital, citing inadequate facilities.
The body was then brought to the Kolkata Medical College. Tensions rose when BJP and CPI(M) supporters arrived on the spot and alleged that the police were trying to hide something and forcing the family to conduct the autopsy in a state-run hospital.
According to sources, the father refused to grant permission for the autopsy at the Medical College and agreed only when it was decided to be conducted at AIIMS, Kalyani.
The nurse’s death occurred one year after a postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and killed at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024. A civic volunteer, Sanjoy Roy, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime.