After the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata, the students there are now in shock. Due to fear, many female doctors have left the campus. According to junior doctors, almost all the hostels of RG Kar Medical College have been vacated except the nursing hostel. After August 9, the female students here are scared and since then the process of vacating the hostels is going on. There are five hostels for female doctors and female students in the RG Kar hospital campus. On August 22, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who appeared on behalf of the protesting doctors in the Supreme Court, had said that after the vandalism on August 14, out of about 700 resident doctors, only 30-40 female doctors and 60-70 male doctors were living in the campus.
According to a report in the Indian Express, there is silence in the entire campus. A fourth year MBBS student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital said, “There are only 17 women in our hostel now. Before 9 August, 160 junior female doctors from different courses used to stay here.” There was a stir after the body of a junior doctor was found in the seminar room of the institute on 9 August and the female students were scared after this incident, but on the night of 14 August, miscreants attacked the hospital. After this attack, the situation worsened further and the hostels started getting empty.
After the commotion in the hospital, the atmosphere deteriorated further
Another MBBS student said, “We were so scared that night (14 August) that we cannot describe it. Many female nurses and doctors who had come here to protest ran towards our hostel when the mob attacked and stayed with us the whole night. None of us slept that night.” Taking cognizance of this incident, the Supreme Court asked sharp questions to the West Bengal government. The Supreme Court asked what was the police doing when the mob gathered in the hospital, attacked the protesters and vandalized the campus? After this, the court directed to deploy CISF for the security of the hospital. After the order of the Supreme Court, now 150 CISF personnel have been deployed in the campus. According to Kolkata Police, 37 people have been arrested so far in connection with this violence.
‘How can one work where there are rapists…’
Medical students said some may return to their hostels but there is no certainty yet. An MBBS student from Purulia said, “CISF personnel have been deployed in the hospital. We feel quite safe now. But how will we feel completely safe until the investigating agency arrests all the culprits? I don’t want to work in a hospital where rapists and murderers are standing next to me.”
Nerves have no choice
The nurses, on the other hand, said they are scared but have no choice but to stay in the hostels. A 42-year-old nurse said, “Doctors can leave their duty or male doctors can do the duty of female colleagues but we have no choice. There are two nursing hostels in the RG Kar Medical College campus. All are almost full as we have to do our work. Even after such a horrific incident, we are doing night duty and sometimes we are alone in the ward. We are feeling really unsafe.”
