Kolkata doctor's murder: CBI taking over shouldn’t lead to it being quietly buried, says Derek O'Brien

The public outrage over the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor in Kolkata is understandable but the CBI taking over the case shouldn’t lead to it "being quietly buried", Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said on Friday, 16 August.

"It is hard to conceive of a more bestial, heinous crime than the murder and rape of a young woman that took place in Kolkata. The public outrage is entirely understandable. Thoughts and prayers with her family," the Rajya Sabha MP said in a post on X.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a rally over the incident at 4 pm on Friday, 16 August demanding that the CBI should give daily updates on the investigation, and that the probe should be completed before 17 August.

Explaining the reason, Banerjee was holding the rally, O'Brien posted, “CBI, which is now handling the case, must give daily updates on the investigation...  The deadline given by the CM to Kolkata Police to complete the investigation was August 17. The same must apply to CBI."

"Kolkata Police has arrested one accused. Justice will happen only when CBI nabs all involved and sends case to a fast-track court," he said. 

"CBI taking over the case shouldn’t lead to it being quietly buried," the TMC leader said.

O'Brien said the urgent need of the hour is swift justice and harshest punishment for the culprits. "No one who committed this barbaric act must be spared," he added. 

The TMC MP also said action would be taken against those who ransacked the RG Kar Hospital. "The police have arrested 19 people," he said. 

A postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on 9 August. A civic volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime the next day.

Unidentified miscreants entered the premises of the hospital shortly after midnight on Thursday and vandalised portions of the medical facility, where the body of a woman doctor was found last week.

The vandalism took place amid midnight protests by women.