Kolkata Doctor Death Case: The rift between INDIA bloc partners Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata continued on Thursday. The Mamata Banerjee-led party slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his 'Kathua to Kolkata' remark over the incident.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on Wednesday the attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration.
Dubbing Gandhi's remarks as 'height of irony', TMC Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said that it was the Congress that gave a Lok Sabha ticket to Lal Singh, who took out a rally supporting the Kathua rapists.
"Define the height of irony? Mr Rahul Gandhi said “Kathua-Kolkata” in his tweet yesterday about the RG Kar Hospital incident. It was the Congress that not only welcomed Lal Singh - who took out a rally supporting the Kathua rapists - but also gave him a ticket in the recent Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur, Jammu. Mr. Gandhi & Congress’ candidate was a man who supported and rallied for those accused of raping & killing 8-year-old Asifa in Kathua. “Kathua-Kolkata”. Seriously Mr. @RahulGandhi?," Gokhale said in a post on X.
On Wednesday, the TMC lashed out at the former Congress chief contending that he should keep in mind the “dismal track record” of women’s safety during previous Congress governments at the Centre.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "The entire country is shocked by the gruesome incident of rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata. The way the layers of the cruel and inhuman act against her are being revealed, there is an atmosphere of insecurity among the doctors' community and women. The attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration."
"This incident has forced us to think that if doctors are not safe in a place like a medical college, then how can parents send their daughters outside for studies? Why are even the strict laws made after the Nirbhaya case unsuccessful in preventing such crimes? Every party, every section of society will have to hold serious discussions and take concrete steps on the continuously increasing incidents against women from Hathras to Unnao, and from Kathua to Kolkata. I stand with the victim's family in this unbearable pain. They should get justice at all costs, and the culprits should be given such a punishment that it is presented as an example in society," he further stated.
"The attempt to save the accused instead of providing justice to the victim raises serious questions on the hospital and the local administration," Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.
Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh dubbed the allegations as baseless. “Before making such remarks, he should check and cross-check facts. He must not forget the dismal track record regarding women’s safety during the Rajiv Gandhi (former PM) regime and (previous) Congress governments at the Centre,” he said.
The body of the woman postgraduate trainee was found inside a seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on the morning of August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime.
The Calcutta High Court had on Tuesday ordered the transfer of the probe into the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor from the Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).