New Delhi, India

The father of the Kolkata rape-murder victim, a young trainee doctor, in a heartbreaking interview, shared the deep love his daughter had for medicine and the immense sacrifices made by her family to support her journey.

Advertisment

He said, "All she did was study, study, study." 

On August 9, the postgraduate trainee doctor was found brutally raped and murdered on the premises of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.

‘My daughter isn’t coming back’

Advertisment

In a heartbreaking phone interview with The Guardian, the father of the RG Kar trainee doctor said, "All our dreams have been shattered in one night. We sent her to work, and the hospital gave us her body. It's all finished for us."

Also read | Kolkata rape-murder: Disturbing search trends for victim’s ‘rape video’ and ‘rape porn’ flood internet

"My daughter isn't coming back. I'm never going to hear her voice or laugh. All I can do now is concentrate on getting her justice."

Advertisment

The tragic incident has sparked a nationwide wave of protests and strikes by doctors and citizens, who have taken to the streets to express their outrage at the handling of the case and the unsafe conditions in which the victim had to work. 

Beat the odds, but for what?

The 31-year-old doctor, as per her father, fought her way into one of India's highly competitive medical colleges and represented a beacon of hope for her family and community. She had beaten the odds to qualify for her place among approximately one of 107,000 seats in the nation's medical colleges.

From an early age, the doctor was driven by her passion for helping others. "'Papa, it's a good thing to become a doctor and help others. What do you think?' I said: 'OK, do it. We'll help you.' And look what happened." 

Also read | What is the Aruna Shanbaug case that Chief justice of India cited during Kolkata horror case hearing?

Her parents, despite their modest means, supported her dream, with her father, a tailor, working tirelessly to finance her education. They eventually bought her a car to ease the tiring commute between their home and the hospital after her long shifts.

"At first, she told me to wait. She said we couldn't manage the EMIs [monthly instalments] and she didn't want to overburden us. But then she found the bus ride so tiring after a long shift that she agreed to the car."

The father and his wife took comfort in the belief that their daughter was safe at the hospital, a place they assumed was secure.

"Like all parents, we worried about her safety, but only while she was travelling. The moment she reached the hospital, we relaxed. She was safe. It’s like when we used to drop her off at school—once she was inside the gate, you feel she is safe."

Public outrage has been amplified by the fact that the attack occurred in the very hospital where she worked—a place her family trusted to be safe. 

The victim's mother reportedly told a neighbour, "She was my only child. We worked hard to make her a doctor … I will never be happy again." 

(With inputs from agencies)