Senior advocate Vrinda Grover will no longer be representing the family of the victim in the R G Kar Medical College rape-murder case. The trial court has been informed and Grover's chamber, including advocates Soutik Banerjee and Arjun Gooptu, are now discharged from the matter. The chamber had been representing the victim's family pro bono since September 2024, but "certain intervening factors and circumstances" have led to Grover's withdrawal. The case is currently being investigated by the CBI after the Calcutta High Court transferred it from the Kolkata Police.
Senior West Bengal minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Monday criticised the ongoing 'cease work' by junior doctors, labeling it as "drama" and a "politicised event" intended to malign the Trinamool Congress government in the state.
Two months after a junior doctor was brutally raped and killed, the doctors' protest in Kolkata rages on.
Puzzled about the Waqf Bill? Syed Firdaus Ashraf explains how the amended Waqf law will plug loopholes in the existing legislation.
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 new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
'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.'
Suryakumar Yadav message extends beyond sons, stressing the importance of educating brothers, fathers, husbands, and friends about respecting women to prevent such heinous acts.
The mother of Sanjoy Roy, convicted for the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, has said she accepts the verdict and believes her son should be punished, even if it means hanging. The court will announce the sentence on Monday.
A delegation of the National Commission for Women (NCW), led by its chairman Vijaya Rahatkar, met with riot-affected women in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, assuring them of safety and demanding an NIA probe into the recent communal clashes. The women narrated their harrowing experiences and demanded permanent BSF camps in select areas of the district. The NCW team also visited relief camps in Malda district and assessed the condition of women affected by the violence.
According to the cause list of August 20 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear on Tuesday.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday asserted that Marathi is the language of Mumbai and Maharashtra and anyone who lives here should learn and speak it. Fadnavis was speaking in the state assembly after Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav said the government should clarify its stand on senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi's comments that a person coming to Mumbai may not necessarily learn Marathi.
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 victim's mother expressed hope that the discussions between the CM and the agitating doctors would yield results.
In the state capital Kolkata, civil society members marched from Ramlila Maidan in Moulali to Metro Channel in Esplanade, demanding justice for the victim of the crime that shook the conscience of the nation.
Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal resumed their indefinite 'total cease work' on Tuesday to press for various demands, including ensuring their safety and security at all medical establishments.
As the new broke out, a massive protest broke out at the SR Gudlavalleru Engineering College, located at Gudivada in Krishna district.
Ending the logjam persisting for 42 days in the wake of the rape and murder of a young doctor at RG Kar hospital, the agitating medics withdrew the 'cease work' after holding a march to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Salt Lake in Kolkata from the state health department's headquarters, where they had been demonstrating for over a week.
The parents of a doctor who was raped and murdered at state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata four months ago expressed unhappiness over the opposition BJP's role in demanding justice for their daughter. They said they would hit the street over the issue, feeling that the incident has been forgotten by the principal opposition party of West Bengal. They criticized the reinstatement of some of the junior doctors accused of patronizing a threat culture in state medical colleges, raising doubts about the intent to bring to book those responsible. The parents have been vocal in their demand for justice and have opened a Facebook account and posted videos urging people to stand with them. The case is currently being investigated by the CBI.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The protests by resident doctors at government hospitals in several states across the country ended on Thursday as major doctors' bodies called off their 11-day strike over the rape-murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata after the Supreme Court made an appeal to them to resume work.
Demanding the resignation of the state's health secretary and director of health education, the striking medics said that they would also take out a rally to 'Swasthya Bhavan' - the headquarters of the health department in Salt Lake - on Tuesday noon.
Sekhar Roy was summoned by the police in connection with a social media post he made over the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The protest continued even as the Supreme Court intervened in the matter and constituted a 10-member National Task Force to formulate a protocol for ensuring the safety and security of doctors and other healthcare professionals.
On Wednesday, Thakur asked the protesting wrestlers not to take any step that could undermine sports or hurt players, and said appropriate action will be taken once the probe into their allegations is completed. He also urged the wrestlers to be patient and have faith in the apex court.
The protesting doctors said they would not work in the Outpatient Department but would partially work in emergency and essential services.
Roads around the 19th century iconic Howrah Station resembled a battleground on Tuesday, with brickbats aimed at police personnel flying thick and fast, and drenched protesters hit by water cannons limping to the safety of nearby alleyways and shops.
The Supreme Court of India has invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in West Bengal's state-run and state-aided schools, deeming the selection process "vitiated and tainted." The court ordered the state government to conduct a fresh selection process within three months. The decision comes after a Calcutta High Court verdict in April 2024, which also annulled the appointments. The apex court, while upholding the high court's order, made some modifications, including exempting disabled employees from returning their salaries. The case stemmed from alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), involving OMR sheet tampering and rank-jumping. The Supreme Court had previously termed it a "systemic fraud." Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being investigated in the recruitment scam.
The top court on Monday directed the protesting resident doctors to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday, observing that if "there is continued abstention from work, there may be a likelihood of adverse action".
The government on Saturday said a committee will be formed to propose safety measures for healthcare professionals even as OPD services were hit across the country as doctors joined the 24-hour nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the alleged rape and murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata.
The CBI's failure to file a chargesheet within the mandated 90 days has resulted in bail being granted to two key suspects in the rape-murder case of an on-duty medic at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. This comes just days after the West Bengal Police secured capital punishment for a convict in a similar crime against a minor. The delay in justice has sparked outrage, particularly among the victim's family and junior doctors who are demanding accountability.
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.
As the outpatient departments (OPDs) at government hospitals are closed on Sundays, the rush was less even as senior doctors were attending the emergency department to provide treatment to the visiting patients.
Hundreds of Muslims on Thursday held protests against an anti-Islam video and tried to march to the American Center here, which closed down for the second half of the day.
The junior doctors called off their 'total cease work' at state-run medical colleges and hospitals around 8.30 pm on Friday but threatened to launch a hunger strike till death if their demands were not met by the West Bengal government within 24 hours.
Many parts of India on Friday, June 10, 2022 witnessed protests by Muslims, demanding the arrest of suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokeswoman Nupur Sharma and expelled BJP leader Naveen Kumar Jindal over their defamatory comments on Prophet Mohammed.
India has expressed concerns over a rise in violence against Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh and Pakistan, reporting 2,200 cases in Bangladesh and 112 in Pakistan this year. The Indian government has urged both countries to take measures to ensure the safety of minorities and has highlighted the issue at international forums. The government has also stated that it is monitoring the situation closely and has shared its concerns with the respective governments.
Expressing his resentment over the "attitude of some junior doctors of Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital," Kabir, the Bharatpur MLA in Murshidabad district said, "They agitate and protest in airconditioned rooms while the masses suffer on streets."
Amid widespread protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the Union health ministry on Friday said the heads of institutions will be responsible for filing an institutional first information report (FIR) within six hours of an incident of violence against any healthcare worker on duty.
Although no fresh arrests were reported in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation continued with its questioning of top officials of the RG Kar Hospital.
