Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner, Manoj Kumar Verma, to appoint a Deputy Commissioner–rank officer to investigate the alleged police assault on the mother of the RG Kar rape and murder victim during the Nabanna Abhijan protest on August 9.
Justice Tirthankar Ghosh noted that the medical report from a private hospital, where the woman was admitted after the incident, recorded injury marks on her forehead. Describing the matter as “sensitive” and in the “interest of justice,” the court directed that the investigating officer examine the medical treatment papers and decide on the next course of action. “If necessary, he will file an FIR. He will also consider whether any punishable offence has been committed in this incident. If nothing like that has happened, then the case will be closed with the permission of the Chief Judicial Magistrate,” Justice Ghosh said.
The court expressed dissatisfaction with the reports filed earlier by New Market Police Station and Shakespeare Sarani Police Station, observing that further investigation was necessary. The direction came while hearing a case alleging that the victim’s mother had been beaten by police personnel during the protest.
Last month, the High Court had sought the medical report from the private hospital where she was treated. The alleged assault occurred on the first anniversary of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, when clashes broke out between police and protesters during the Nabanna Abhijan march.
The victim’s mother said she was assaulted after she, her husband, and others attempted to move towards Nabanna. On August 12, Kolkata Police stated that no evidence was found of police assault during the protest.