KOLKATA: She was working exceptionally hard, aiming for a gold medal in her specialty. Her parents expected her home very late on Aug 9 after a 36-hour shift. She did return at the expected hour, but in a hearse – supine, wrapped in a shroud.
She was raped and murdered in the quiet of a seminar room where she had retired to read, reflect, and rest awhile after 16 hours of her marathon shift.
The morning of August 8 began like any other for the 31-year-old postgraduate resident doctor, known for her punctuality.
She arrived at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital‘s respiratory medicine department OPD around 10am, ready for a long shift. Having stayed in a hostel on campus, she had been commuting from her home, on the outskirts of Kolkata and about 14km north of RG Kar hospital, for over a year.
Colleagues recalled her as being her usual busy, focused self, with nothing out of the ordinary. “The OPD was bustling with patients when she entered the hospital and got busy right away. She admitted six patients and had no time for a break except to snatch a few moments to have some tea,” said a colleague.
Assigned to unit 2A of the department, her team in the OPD included a resident medical officer, a senior resident doctor, a faculty member, as well as interns and house staff. Housed in room 204 of the OPD building, it was her workstation until 3pm.
After that, she joined her team in the ward. Her team had ordered lunch, and since she was late, they kept her food aside.
“She came in after 3pm and had her food in the ‘sleep room’ next door where we usually eat. She was a little reserved but very focused. A senior faculty member and I left around 4.30pm after telling her to call if any patient’s condition deteriorated. The call never came and the next morning I learned of her gruesome death,” said a third-year trainee doctor.
After a late lunch, she hurried to take charge of patients in her unit. The 80-bed department on the third floor of the Emergency Building has six units, and this was to be her place of work until another PG trainee doctor relieved her late on Aug 9.
“Didi was dashing to the ward when I bumped into her in the corridor. We exchanged pleasantries and she said she had a lot of work in the ward,” said a first-year PG doctor. Both passed by one of the seminar hall doors.
Once in the ward, she diligently checked her patients, reviewed their treatment papers, and coordinated with the nurses on their medications. Although she had a third-year PG doctor guiding her during the day, she took charge of her unit – comprising two first-year PG doctors, an intern, and a house staff – at night, as was the practice.”Whatever little interaction we had with her, she would always encourage us to aim for perfection,” said a junior.
Colleagues noted she took a break around midnight for dinner, then returned to the ward to do a round before heading to the seminar hall to rest around 2am on Aug 9 – 16 hours since she reached the hospital. That shuteye turned out to be her last, and her colleagues shuddered at the thought of how brutal it was.
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