Rashtrapati Bhavan responds to SOS email by parents of R.G. Kar victim

After several attempts to reach out to President Droupadi Murmu, the parents of the doctor who was raped and murdered at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital received an email response from Rashtrapati Bhavan asking them to liaise with the President’s aide to express their plea.

In the early hours of August 9 last year, a female post-graduate trainee doctor was brutally raped and killed at the premises of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where she was on duty. Since then, the parents of the victim had reportedly reached out to Rashtrapati Bhavan thrice, requesting an audience with the President to help secure justice for their daughter.

“We are facing existential threats due to extreme torture. Kindly SAVE US. We have lost everything. My daughter was brutally killed. My wife was brutally attacked on my daughter’s first death anniversary by Kolkata Police,” the parents’ last email to Rashtrapati Bhavan dated August 13 reads, referring to the family’s allegation that the police had grievously injured the victim’s mother during a protest march on August 9.

In an email response on August 14, officials of the President’s Secretariat wrote that the petition has been forwarded to the President’s aide, and asked the parents to reach out to him “for further information in the matter”.

“We have been fighting for justice for our daughter for the last one year. In our last email, we had written to the President about that, as well as about the police heckling us recently. They have asked us to liaise with her office. The West Bengal Chief Secretary has also been included in the email chain,” the victim’s father said.

Also read: Injury to R.G. Kar victim’s mother regrettable, says Kolkata Police Commissioner, promises probe

Earlier this year, the bereaved parents had travelled to New Delhi seeking an audience with the President, but to no avail.

On August 7, they met with the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the rape and murder case, and is currently probing allegations of evidence tampering and a larger conspiracy behind the crime.

“When we questioned the director on lapses in the investigation and expressed our dissatisfaction, they said they could withdraw the case. This is extremely disheartening. When will our daughter get justice?” the victim’s father had told The Hindu on August 8, hours before a protest rally was to head to the State Secretariat to mark one year of the gruesome crime.