Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into brutal rape and murder of trainee doctor in West Bengal

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday (August 13) ordered the transfer of the probe into the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in theIndian state ofWest Bengal. The probe has now been transferred to India's investigative agency, the CBI.

Earlier, the Kolkata Police were handling the case.

Why the transfer?

The probe transfer comes after the Calcutta High Court's bench observed that there was no significant progress in investigations made by the police in five days since the tragic incident.

The incident has prompteda widespread agitation by junior doctors that crippled the state healthcare services for the fifth day. Due to the widespread agitation, even emergency and outdoor departments in most state-run hospitals have come to a halt.

Given the agitation, the high court directed the city police to hand over the case directly to the country's central probe agency by Tuesday evening and also transfer all the documents by 10:00 am (local time)on Wednesday (August 14).

This direction was passed after the victim's parents moved a petition asking for a court-monitored probe.

In addition to that, several other PILs also sought the probe transfer to CBI, reports PTI.

The order comes five days after the gruesome incident shocked the nation and five days ahead of the probe deadline Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had issued to the police — post this, she had vowed she would hand over the investigations to the central agency.

Heinous crime shocks India

On August 9 (Friday), the body of a postgraduate student was found inside the seminar hall of state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. A preliminary autopsy of her body suggested that the trainee doctor was subjected to violent sexual assault.

Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, was arrested by the Kolkata police in connection to the case. However, even this wasn't enough to satiate the public's anger. Allegations of a botched-up investigation and evidence of tampering snowballed into outrage that has spread across medical campuses in West Bengal and beyond.

(With inputs from agencies)