'Wasn't The Night Shampa's Too': Bengal Police Condemns Attack On Constable During RG Kar Hospital Vandalism

Massive vandalism was witnessed in the emergency, staffers' room, changing room for nurses and medicine store, including breaking of almost all CCTV cameras in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday in state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The call for protests began from a social media post that invited women to 'reclaim the night' as part of a march to protest against the brutal rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in the same hospital.

While the junior doctors and people across the city joined the protests on the night of August 14, a mob of approximately 7000 people attacked the hospital premises and the protest sites.

The vandals also attacked people and one of them being constable Shampa Pramanik.

In a post on X, West Bengal Police questioned if the night was dedicated to women, Pramanik is also one of them and shouldn't have deserved this injury.

The police body wrote, "It was meant to be a night for women, when they reclaimed the streets demanding safety at the workplace, in memory of a young woman who fell victim to a horrifying tragedy at her own workplace."

They added, "Our colleague Constable Shampa Pramanik, of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, was in Baguiati on the night of August 14, ensuring the safety of those walking the streets."

"Suddenly, unprovoked, several bricks came flying from the crowd toward the police, one of which hit Shampa in the face. The accompanying photo was taken in the minutes immediately after she was hit.," they said.

The police has also officially noted that they have arrested five people in the case, and they will try to ensure punishment for them.

The Calcutta High Court described the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as an "absolute failure of state machinery." A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said it was hard to believe that the police intelligence did not have information about the gathering of 7,000 people.

Kolkata Police has arrested 25 people for their alleged involvement in the vandalism, with Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal admitting that, despite adequate security, they were unprepared for the violence and were caught off-guard.