APEX COURT GIVES BENGAL GOVT A RAP ON KNUCKLES

Questions delay in lodging an FIR National Task Force set up to formulate a protocol for safety and security of doctors

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the nation can’t wait for another rape and murder for bringing changes on the ground and set up National Task Force to prepare an action plan to prevent violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions.

“As more and more women join the work force, the nation cannot wait for another rape for things to change on the ground,” the top court said.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra’s observation came while hearing a suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder of a doctor in Staterun RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal.

The top court questioned the West Bengal government for waiting three hours to register the FIR. The top court also pulled the state government observing that the name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity.

On 9 August 2024, a thirtyone-year-old postgraduate doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata who was on a thirty-six-hour duty shift was murdered and allegedly raped inside the seminar room of the hospital. “As horrific details have emerged in the course of media reportage, the brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime have shocked the conscience of the Nation. The name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity,” the top court said.