The body of a 22-year-old nurse of a private nursing home in Singur of Hooghly district was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kalyani in Nadia on Saturday for post-mortem amidst controversy.
The mysterious death of the nurse, who had recently joined the private healthcare facility in Singur triggered unrest between the two opposition parties BJP and CPI-M workers prompting them to clash with police at Calcutta Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Friday evening.
The agitating workers belonging to both camps accused the police of sending the body to the CMCH morgue for autopsy examination in an attempt to hide the real cause of her death.
The body of nurse who hailed from Nandigram in East Midnapore district was found dead Thursday at the nursing home in was taken to the (AIIMS) in Kalyani early this morning for post-mortem after the deceased’s family members objected to the autopsy being conducted at the CMCH.
According to AIIMS sources, the autopsy began at 10 a.m. in the presence of a magistrate and the nurse’s family members, and the entire procedure was being video-graphed. After the autopsy was over in the afternoon, the family was set to take her body to Nandigram for cremation.
The family members alleged that she nurse was sexually assaulted and subsequently murdered after she uncovered irregularities in the nursing home’s operations. However, the management denied all such allegations, saying that she committed suicide. The deceased had joined the nursing home just four days before her death.
According to Hooghly district police, owner of the nursing home and boyfriend of the deceased nurse have been arrested so far for interrogations.
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 government-run hospital. Also, we want a central agency to conduct the probe into my daughter’s death.”
The deceased’s 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 and WhatsApp chats were being verified. 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 body was first taken to Walsh Hospital in Serampore for the post-mortem and then rushed to CMCH.
A protest broke out and demonstrators, including CPI-M-backed SFI and DYFI and BJP supporters, clashed with police in an attempt to break into the hospital, citing inadequate facilities.
On the other hand, West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front that was formed immediate after the brutal rape and murder of a woman doctor at R G Kar Medical College Hospital one year ago demanded a judicial inquiry to probe the Singur incident.
The junior doctors alleged that the mysterious death of the nurse in Singur was a rerun of the R G Kar Hospital case.