The post-mortem and forensic reports have emerged as the biggest challenge for the Central Bureau of Investigation in its ongoing investigation into the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Sources told CNN-News18 that while the post-mortem report is clear on sexual assault in the case, the forensic report is inconclusive on this.
Presenting its status report to the Supreme Court on Monday (September 9), the central agency also indicated that it has fresh leads in the case, which likely point towards the destruction of evidence. The woman doctor’s family has also made similar allegations.
“The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has fresh leads. Let them investigate it and submit a fresh status report by September 17,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said during the hearing.
Here is all that the CBI may consider as it looks into new evidence:
Post-mortem, forensic reports pose more questions
According to sources, the post-mortem report is clear on sexual assault but the forensic report did not give conclusive findings.
The post-mortem report states that the woman doctor died of the effects of manual strangulation associated with smothering, and there is medical evidence of forceful penetration/insertion, sources said. There is also a third document that concludes that the DNA samples of Sanjay Roy, who was arrested in the case, match those recovered from the victim’s body, the sources added.
Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta flagged the discrepancy in the forensic report before the SC, raising questions about the collection of this crucial evidence. “This is serious. The person enters, the body parts were not covered, she is nude, there are injury marks and yet see the result of forensic lab. Who collected the sample then becomes relevant,” he said.
The forensic tests in question were done at a laboratory in West Bengal, and the CBI has now decided to send this report to the AIIMS and all central forensic labs for further probe. The manner in which the post-mortem was conducted is also being probed by the central agency.
The SC also questioned the missing challan, which is needed to proceed with an autopsy. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal government, failed to produce the challan leading to strong observations from the CJI-led bench.
Asked about the challan, Kolkata Police officials told CNN-News18 that “nothing was missing”. The document is crucial since it includes details of the clothes that the victim was wearing when the body was brought in. Sources said the post-mortem report mentioned that the doctor was wearing a pink top, but her innerwear was missing.
Sources further said it is likely that the laptop and mobile phone of the victim were tampered with, which is also being probed. The two devices, along with a notepad, were found near her body while some sheets were missing from the notepad and there were no fingerprints on the gadgets, they said.
Police response to the woman doctor’s death
The parents of the woman doctor have alleged that the Kolkata Police offered them money in an attempt to “hush up the case”. Following these allegations, a CBI team met the parents. They have specifically made the allegation against the deputy commissioner of police (north). The agency is probing the motive behind such an offer.
It also looking afresh at Avik De, who was present at the crime scene, as per pictures that went viral. The police identified him as a forensic expert, but the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called him out as one of the doctors close to former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh. Hence, the presence of an alleged Ghosh aide has led to questions.
Role of former RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh
The CBI is also examining if Dr Sandip Ghosh revealed all the facts while narrating the sequence of events on August 9, the day the victim’s body was found inside a seminar hall at RG Kar hospital. He had claimed that he found out about the murder only around 10.20 am, but sources said in his driver’s statement to the CBI, it is mentioned that he got a call to urgently reach the Ghosh residence at 6 am. It is not yet clear what this emergency was even after the agency subjected the ex-principal to more than 15 days of questioning and made him undergo two lie-detection tests.
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