Bandyopadhyay, eminent playwright and director, said in a statement that he is returning the award conferred on him earlier this year by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi and the Rs 30,000 monetary grant.
The Mamata Banerjee government will table the anti-rape bill in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday.
Senior Trinamool Congress minister Udayan Guha has sparked controversy by claiming that fingers of those blaming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and demanding her resignation over the alleged rape and murder of a woman doctor would be broken.
The Calcutta High Court has directed the CBI to produce the case diary related to its investigation into the rape-murder of an on-duty doctor at RG Kar hospital. The court questioned the CBI about the possibility of gang rape or destruction of evidence in its probe. The parents of the victim, who are petitioners in the case, have requested a court-monitored investigation, alleging a larger conspiracy behind the crime. The CBI has already filed a charge-sheet in the case, leading to the conviction and life imprisonment of Sanjay Roy, a former civic volunteer, for the crime. However, the court has sought clarification from the CBI on whether it considered investigating the crime under Section 70 (gang rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Pronouncing sole accused Sanjay Roy guilty of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at state-run RG Kar hospital, Sealdah court judge Anirban Das on Saturday said the convict had attacked the postgraduate trainee while she was asleep in the hospital's seminar room around 4 am on August 9, 2024.
The rallies were organised from R G Kar hospital, Sagore Dutta Hospital, SSKM Hospital, Calcutta Medical College, and Jadavpur in south Kolkata.
Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal continued their fast-unto-death for the third consecutive day on Monday, demanding justice for the rape and murder of a woman medic of the RG Kar hospital and workplace safety even as the state government remained silent to address their issues.
'Sanjay Roy is not alone.' 'If he's kept alive, maybe we will know what happened.' 'Why was he in the chest medicine department that night when he never went there earlier?' 'Nobody will parade in front of a CCTV camera and then go and murder someone.' 'There are several people who are involved in this heinous crime. They have to be identified and punished.'
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an appeal in the Calcutta High Court seeking the death penalty for Sanjay Roy, who was sentenced to "life imprisonment until death" for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The CBI argued that the crime falls under the "rarest of rare" category deserving capital punishment, while the trial court had ruled otherwise. The West Bengal government has also appealed for the death penalty, but the CBI opposed the state's right to file an appeal, claiming it was the prosecuting agency and therefore had the right to appeal on the grounds of inadequacy of the sentence. The high court will hear the appeals from the CBI, the victim's family, and the convict on January 27.
The victim's mother expressed hope that the discussions between the CM and the agitating doctors would yield results.
The first round of talks between the West Bengal government and the agitating junior doctors began at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence in Kalighat on Monday evening to address the RG Kar impasse.
The top court said it had already passed an order on this issue and it was for the law enforcement agencies to implement the order.
The state police have called the scheduled rallies, support for which has been mainly garnered over social media platforms, as "illegal" and "unauthorised", and said they have taken necessary precautions to allay apprehensions about potential law and order situations during the march.
Chief secretary Manoj Pant hoped "Good sense will prevail" as mutually agreed on Saturday that there will be no live-streaming or videography of the meeting given the matter is sub-judice before the Supreme Court.
Sanjoy Roy, the accused in the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar hospital in Kolkata, was sentenced to life imprisonment till death on Monday. His mother, Malati Roy, who had previously expressed support for the punishment, shut herself in her home and refused to speak to reporters. Neighbors and family members of Roy have questioned whether he acted alone in the crime, suggesting others may have been involved.
Kolkata Police on Friday said it has so far arrested 19 people in connection with the vandalism and violence at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in the metropolis.
The medics, however, declared that they would stick to their original demand of taking part in the meeting with 30 members instead of 15 people as mandated by the state government.
The state government and the CM have repeatedly urged the doctors to resume work. Though Thursday's talks failed to take place, protesting doctors maintained that they still desire a meeting, but only in a completely transparent manner, which they believe is only possible through live-streaming.
Police said they began lathicharging and tear gassing after the agitators managed to breach the barricades at some locations and attacked the security personnel.
In response to the tragic incident, many committees scaled back their celebrations significantly.
The court also directed the state to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.
'Abhaya Di was one of the best seniors we could have.' 'She secured a seat in chest medicine which is huge in India, where only 10-20 seats are available for the general category.' 'Such a talent was destroyed ruthlessly.'
The agitating doctors confirmed on Monday evening that they are willing to attend a meeting at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence to resolve the RG Kar hospital impasse but demanded they should be allowed to record and sign the minutes of the talks.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged in the Supreme Court on Thursday that there was an attempt to cover up the rape and killing of a post-graduate medic at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital by the local police as the crime scene was altered by the time the federal agency took over the probe.
Family members of a doctor, who was allegedly raped and murdered in Kolkata last month, joined the protesting medics at RG Kar hospital on Wednesday and accused the Kolkata Police of attempting to suppress the case by hurriedly cremating the body of the doctor.
'My primary point was where is the Mamata Banerjee who jumps and reaches out, starts talking directly and starts solving over the heads of the bureaucracy.'
Amid persistent rain, the protesting doctors continued their sit-in outside 'Swasthya Bhavan', the state health department headquarters in Salt Lake, for the sixth consecutive day.
'She could have sat down with the students and taken a list of their grievances including their allegations and suspicions.' 'Not all suspicions are true, but you have to listen, you have to let the steam come out.'
Nearly 50 senior doctors of RG Kar hospital on Tuesday tendered their resignations in a mark of solidarity with medics who have been on fast-unto-death since October 5 demanding justice for the institution's rape and murder victim.
On a day when both the West Bengal government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) moved the Calcutta high court for admission of their appeals seeking capital punishment for RG Kar hospital rape-murder convict Sanjay Roy, a counsel for the victim's parents claimed that the family does not want death penalty for him.
The Trinamool Congress on Thursday refuted accusations of a police cover-up by the parents of the woman doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered, insisting that a newly surfaced video contradicts their claims by showing the family previously satisfied with the investigation.
Senior Indian Police Service officer Manoj Kumar Verma was appointed the new Kolkata Police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal, on Tuesday, a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
The CBI, tasked by the Calcutta high court to probe the case, received local court approval to conduct a polygraph test on the accused, days after performing a psychoanalysis test on him.
Bandyopadhyay, eminent playwright and director, said in a statement that he is returning the award conferred on him earlier this year by the Paschimbanga Natya Akademi and the Rs 30,000 monetary grant.
Despite Banerjee's promise of a transparent investigation, the protesters criticised the delay, demanding a judicial inquiry, capital punishment for the culprits, and adequate compensation for the victim's family.
The ongoing agitation has also led the Federation of All India Medical Association to warn that it would declare a nationwide "complete shutdown of medical services" if any "any harm befalls brave junior doctors".
Asserting that her government has zero tolerance to incidents of rape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
The minister urged the doctors to rejoin work by respecting the Supreme Court's direction to them, but refrained from giving a direct reply on whether the state government would take any punitive action for violating the apex court's order.
The strike will continue following the tragic incident at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, it said.
Night patrolling on hospital premises and regulating access for people to key areas are among the measures the Centre has asked states to implement to ensure the safety of medics at workplaces, following Supreme Court orders in the rape-murder case of a junior doctor in Kolkata.
