"Spineless CBI": Parents Of RG Kar Rape, Murder Victim In Delhi, Seek Justice

Nearly a year since a young doctor was raped and murdered at the medical college and hopital in Kolkata where she worked, her parents have landed in Delhi seeking to meet with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Praveen Sood over no progress in the case.

The body of the young doctor was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024.

The parents said they will return to Kolkata on Saturday to lead the "nabanna avijan (march to the state secretariat)".

"We came here today with the hope that the CBI will answer our questions, but they've closed the case instead. We asked for an independent investigating agency which is why the CBI was brought in other than the Kolkata Police. But what the Kolkata Police investigated, they (CBI) based their investigation on it," the visibly devastated father told NDTV.

"Our daughter's case was taken up suo moto by the Supreme Court. Justice JB Pardiwala had remarked he had not come across a case like this in the last 30 years," he said.

The father was livid that the CBI declined to give them answers or even a supplementary chargesheet.

"They want us to bring evidence. Is that our job or theirs? The CBI is spineless. None of our demands were heard. We believe there were more people involved and they need to be brought to justice," the doctor's father said in Hindi.

His wife, frail and also visibly devastated, held two placards calling for justice for her daughter. She broke down while speaking.

"I refuse to believe that in a government medical college and hospital, an individual can just walk in, commit the crimes and walk out easily. There is more to this, more people involved. My daughter was a bright soul, interested in studying and healing people," the mother said.

"She had just one dream - to become a doctor and help people. That dream was crushed by the men in the same institution where she was raped and murdered. My daughter is dead. We are also the living dead. We demand answers and we will live on to fight," she said.

The couple has invited everyone including leaders and workers of political parties - except those from the ruling Trinamool Congress - to the march on Saturday. But they can join only if they turn up without carrying their party flags.

The only convict in the case, Sanjay Roy, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court.

The CBI had been looking into allegations of a larger conspiracy behind the crime.

While protests over the RG Kar case last year mainly targeted the West Bengal administration and the ruling Trinamool Congress, they have evolved to include criticism against the CBI for allegedly not completing the investigation.