RG Kar doctor's MLA mother to observe seven-day seclusion ahead of daughter's second death anniversary

Kolkata, Aug 3
As the second anniversary of the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata approaches on August 8, her mother, Ratna Debnath, has decided to observe a seven-day self-seclusion to mourn the loss of her daughter.

Debnath, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Panihati Assembly constituency in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, announced her decision in a social media post on Sunday night.

Though she did not explicitly state the reason for her week-long withdrawal in her Bengali-language post, the message made it clear that she wished to spend the period in solitude, away from public life, as the anniversary of the tragedy draws near.

“I am seeking time for seven days from everyone for personal reasons. I will not be able to contact anyone by phone or in person for the next seven days. I will also not attend any political or social event. Official work will continue at my public office. I hope you will kindly forgive my absence for these few days,” Debnath wrote.

Since entering active politics and winning the Panihati seat in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, Debnath has continued to speak publicly about the unbearable grief she has endured since her daughter's death.

“Just think that on the night of August 8, when the world was sleeping, the kind of pain that my daughter had to bear,” she said during a recent informal interaction with journalists, recalling the horrific crime.

The young doctor's body was found inside a seminar hall on the hospital premises on the morning of August 9, 2024. The probe found that she had been raped and murdered the previous night while on duty.

The incident triggered massive protests across West Bengal, with demonstrations soon spreading to other parts of the country and drawing nationwide outrage. The investigation was initially handled by the Kolkata Police before being transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following court intervention.

Sanjay Roy, a former civic volunteer attached to the Kolkata Police, remains the only person convicted in the case and is serving a sentence of life imprisonment.

More recently, the CBI began a fresh probe into the case under a new investigating officer after the Calcutta High Court directed the agency to revisit aspects of the investigation, keeping public attention focused on one of the country's most shocking crimes against a medical professional.