The death of a young nursing student at a private medical facility in West Bengal’s Singur has sparked widespread outrage and drawn comparisons to a previous case that shook the state. The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), a prominent medical collective, is demanding a judicially monitored investigation into what it calls a suspicious death and potential cover-up.
The 22-year-old woman, originally from Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, was found hanging inside the hospital premises on Thursday evening — just four days after she joined as a trainee nurse. While the hospital management described the death as a suicide, the student’s family has alleged foul play, including sexual assault and murder, reportedly after she uncovered irregularities at the facility.
“This is not an isolated incident,” WBJDF said in a statement released late Friday. “This is a rerun of the 9 August tragedy at RG Kar Medical College. Once again, a young woman is dead, and once again, institutions are scrambling to suppress the truth.”
In August last year, the death of a postgraduate medical student at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College — widely seen as a case of sexual violence and institutional failure — triggered statewide protests. Doctors and civil society groups accused the authorities of shielding the perpetrators, manipulating evidence, and intimidating whistleblowers.
Red Flags in Handling of Case
According to WBJDF, the handling of the current case raises “serious red flags.” The group alleges that the nursing student’s body was hastily removed from the hospital before her family arrived and transported first to a local police station, then to Serampore Walsh Hospital, and finally to the morgue at Kolkata Medical College by Friday morning.
The group questioned the motive behind shifting the body so quickly and accused the police of undermining the investigation.
“There is already an attempt to write this off as suicide,” the WBJDF said. “We demand full transparency, or the public’s trust in the justice system will be permanently eroded.”
Key Demands for Justice
The organisation has issued five specific demands:
A post-mortem under judicial supervision, with full videographic documentation
A swift and impartial judicial inquiry, free of political interference
Public disclosure of all findings at every stage of the investigation
Immediate preservation of the crime scene and retrieval of all CCTV footage in a forensically sound manner
Exemplary punishment for those found guilty
Backing the family’s request, the WBJDF demanded that the autopsy be conducted at a neutral central government facility. Authorities have agreed, and the autopsy was being carried out at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kalyani at the time of reporting.
Political Fallout and Protests
The incident has triggered political responses across the spectrum. Both BJP and CPM workers staged protests outside police stations, accusing law enforcement of prematurely declaring the death a suicide and attempting to erase evidence. Several opposition leaders echoed concerns raised by the WBJDF, pointing to similarities with the RG Kar case where police and hospital authorities faced widespread criticism.
The state government has yet to respond publicly to the WBJDF’s statement or to announce any independent inquiry.
As anger mounts across West Bengal, many fear this could be another case where justice is delayed—or denied—amid political apathy and institutional silence.
