'Mamata has fixed rate card for rape victims, attempts to purchase witnesses': Counsel for Kolkata victim's family

The counsel for murdered trainee doctor's family has levelled a serious charge against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying her role is very 'condemnable'. The trainee doctor, 31, was allegedly raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. 

"The role of chief minister of West Bengal is very condemnable," the counsel, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, said while speaking to the news agency ANI. "Wherever there is rape she wants to immediately get into contact with the victim's family, pay them money and say everything is over. Unfortunately, she has fixed a rate card for the rape victims. She attempts to purchase the witnesses," he said.

On Sunday, the parents of the victim said that they had faith in the chief minister but that trust was gone now. The victim's mother said that by seeing the body, anyone could tell that it was a murder case. But, she said, she got a call from the department saying her daughter had committed suicide. The deceased doctor's father said that her daughter's body was cremated hurriedly. He said that there were 3 bodies at the crematorium but his daughter's body was cremated first. 

TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray on Saturday demanded a custodial interrogation of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and RG Kar Medical College's former principal Sandeep Ghosh. "Custodial interrogation of ex-Principal and Police Commissioner is a must to know who and why floated suicide story," he said in a tweet. 

The victim family's counsel also blamed the chief minister for the midnight attack at RG Kar. "The TMC organised this. They brought in goons from nearby areas and attacked. Their motive was to disperse the demonstration, intimidate the protestors, and destroy any circumstantial evidence that might exist," he said while speaking to India Today. 

"They tried to reach the fourth floor where the seminar hall is located to destroy it, but they couldn’t reach there, though they did manage to damage up to the third floor. They broke into the emergency department. If the demonstrators had wanted to break anything, they could have done it on the first day. They didn't break anything on the first day, so why would they break it three days later? This is clearly TMC's plan," he added.

The Chief Minister has failed to fulfill her responsibility. She is the only person creating a bad image for West Bengal," Bhattacharya said, adding that the rape and murder was not the work of just one person. "At least two or three people were there." 

When asked who the chief minister was trying to protect, the counsel said: "The system — such as the theft in hospitals, the illegal activities like selling seats — if an emergency patient needs a seat, they won't get it unless they pay money. Medicines are bought and sold, and a lot of money is being misused. All this will be exposed."

Referring to Sandeep Ghosh's resignation and immediate promotion, the counsel said: "Tell me, does it make sense that in a government job, one person is so crucial that they announce in the morning that he has submitted his resignation, and by evening he is appointed as the principal of a medical college? How important can one person be? All the scams related to the hospital are connected to this person. He is also a leader in this scandal."