‘Durga Puja will never be celebrated in my house again’: R.G. Kar victim’s mother on Mamata Banerjee’s ‘return to festivities’ statement

Members of a Durga Puja committee stage a protest against the alleged sexual assault and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, at Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district, Saturday, September 7, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

In response to CM Mamata Banerjee asking people to “return to festivities” as Durga Puja nears, and also urging junior doctors to resume their duties as soon as possible, the mother of the deceased trainee doctor from Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College expressed her concern.

The mother said this request seemed inhuman to her on Tuesday (September 10, 2024). Speaking to ANI, the mother said, “Durga Puja is celebrated in my house too; my daughter used to handle it herself. But Durga Puja will never be celebrated in my house again. The light in my home is out. How can I ask people to return to the festival?”

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She further asked, “If such an incident had happened in the Chief Minister’s family, would she have said this?” The victim’s mother also asserted that they would continue their movement until justice is served.

She also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of lying about not offering financial compensation on Monday (September 9, 2024).

“The Chief Minister is lying. My daughter will not return. Would I lie in her name? The Chief Minister told us that we would receive money and suggested that we create something in our daughter’s memory. I responded that I would come to her office to collect the money once my daughter gets justice,” the victim’s mother told ANI.

The victim’s cousin also said that the Chief Minister personally offered financial compensation to the family. “The Chief Minister herself offered financial compensation. She denied that money was offered by the police. I’m still saying with responsibility that the Chief Minister offered money,” the cousin said.

The second-year postgraduate medical student was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of R.G. Kar Medical College on August 9. On Monday (September 9, 2024), the Supreme Court reminded the authorities that no action should be taken against doctors who return to work by tomorrow at 5 p.m. while hearing the case related to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. However, the court noted that if the doctors fail to do so, the court will not be able to restrain the state government, and further absence from work might lead to disciplinary action against them.