Mob Storms Hospital During Night Protest Over Kolkata Rape-Murder Case

 In Kolkata early Thursday morning, a large crowd of hundreds breached police barricades and forcibly entered RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The mob caused significant damage, vandalizing the emergency unit, multiple wards, and various pieces of medical equipment. This destruction occurred at the government facility where a junior doctor was tragically raped and murdered the previous week. Meanwhile, the city's streets were filled with angry protesters engaging in midnight marches, creating a scene of unrest and agitation as they crisscrossed the area.

Mob Storms Hospital During Night Protest Over Kolkata Rape-Murder Case

Police have arrested 12 individuals in connection with the recent vandalism, marking a new chapter in the political turmoil engulfing the state. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused Leftist groups and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating the violence, while the Opposition alleges that the mobs were supported by the ruling Trinamool Congress to undermine the investigation.

Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has visited the victim’s residence in the North 24 Parganas district, a day after initiating its investigation into the brutal crime that has ignited widespread outrage and protests across the country seeking justice.

The violence, which occurred after midnight on Thursday, has led to health care providers and a coalition of doctors' unions resuming their nationwide strike. This comes just a day after they had previously suspended their initial strike that had severely disrupted medical services.

On Thursday night, around midnight, large numbers of protesters filled the streets of West Bengal's capital, Kolkata, carrying banners, placards, and candles as part of a demonstration to "reclaim the night." Tens of thousands of people left their homes to participate in the agitation, which was in response to a tragic incident involving a 32-year-old woman who was raped and murdered inside a seminar hall at a major public hospital on the early morning of August 9. Her body was discovered later that same day, and a 31-year-old civic volunteer named Sanjay Roy was arrested in connection with the crime. The autopsy revealed that the woman had been brutally assaulted with a foreign object before her murder.

The protest took a chaotic turn around 12:40 a.m. when reports emerged that a large mob had stormed the hospital in the Belgachhia area of north Kolkata. Videos and eyewitness accounts confirmed that the crowd breached the hospital's main entrance, demolished police barricades, and clashed with security personnel.

A chaotic scene unfolded at the hospital as a mob, armed with cricket bats and metal rods, descended upon the facility’s extensive grounds. The attackers vandalized the premises by destroying CCTV cameras and dismantling a stage that the hospital’s doctors were using for their protests.

The group split up, with some breaking into the emergency unit on the ground floor while others targeted a ward on the first floor and the ENT department on the second floor. The incident of rape had occurred on the third floor, but the mob was unable to access this area as the gates were locked.

The attackers wreaked havoc by smashing medicine cabinets, destroying monitors and medical equipment, and overturning beds. A senior doctor at the hospital, who requested anonymity, detailed the destruction, noting that the emergency unit was breached first, and the damage spread to the first and second floors. However, the third floor remained intact due to locked gates. The doctor emphasized that the crime scene, where the trainee doctor was murdered, is on the third floor, which had been inspected by CBI teams prior to the violence.

The Kolkata Police reported on X that the crime scene, located in the seminar room, remained untouched. Despite the extensive damage, no patients or protesting doctors were harmed. However, several police personnel sustained injuries, a fact later confirmed by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee.

To control the situation, police reinforcements were deployed, and they used baton charges and tear gas to disperse the increasingly agitated crowd. Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal arrived at the scene around 1:20 am and attributed the chaos to misinformation spread through social media, deflecting criticism from the police force. Goyal claimed that there was no attempt to shield anyone and defended the police's efforts in arresting the prime suspect and continuing the investigation.

Doctors protesting at the hospital criticized the police for their lack of action to prevent the attack. Junior doctor Aniket Maity recounted that the troublemakers were assembling outside well before the attack began and that the police failed to intervene until the violence was underway, seeking refuge inside the hospital.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose condemned the vandalism, labeling it a disgrace to society and humanity, and calling for an end to such violence. Abhishek Banerjee also denounced the incident and urged for those responsible to be swiftly identified and held accountable.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing the situation later, accused political groups, specifically the Left and BJP, of inciting trouble. She claimed that external political elements were behind the unrest and expressed support for the protesting doctors, while asserting that political parties were responsible for the violence.

In response to the attack, protesting doctors at RG Kar hospital refused to let the new principal, Dr. Suhrita Pal, assume office until security measures were enhanced. Dr. Pal mentioned that internal security was managed by a private agency and that additional personnel were being requested, though it would take time.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (FORDA) announced it would resume its strike, acknowledging that their previous decision to end the strike, made in good faith, had led to disappointment and unrest within their community.