Kolkata rape case: Former Indian college principal arrested for ‘tampering with evidence’

India’s federal investigation agency has arrested the former head of a medical college in the eastern city of Kolkata on charges of tampering with evidence in the rape and murder of a junior doctor, a case that sparked weeks of nationwide protests.

Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College, was arrested along with police officer Abhijit Mondal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday night.

Ghosh and others allegedly delayed declaring the victim dead and filing a first information report (FIR), a formal complaint with the police, leading to destruction of vital evidence, according to additional charges filed by the CBI in a court, Reuters news agency reported.

He was already in judicial custody after being arrested by the agency in a case related to corruption within the college on September 2.

The 31-year-old victim, whose body was found at the medical school in early August, sparked nationwide protests and calls for greater safety for women in the workplace as well as justice for the victim.

The lawyer representing Ghosh could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mondal, the officer in charge of the police station where the college is located, was also accused of failing to protect the crime scene, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Asked about Mondal’s arrest, a senior Kolkata police official said: “We will answer the charges in court.”

The two arrests come more than a month after the main suspect was arrested by Kolkata police and charged with rape and murder.

Young doctors in the eastern state of West Bengal, of which Kolkata is the capital, have decided to continue their protests until the victim gets justice.

The doctors were joined in their protests by an angry public, with thousands of women and men marching in Kolkata and other cities across the country for weeks, demanding justice and better security measures in hospitals.

Activists say the doctor’s rape and murder show how women in India continue to face sexual violence despite tougher laws introduced after the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi, the national capital.

The attack prompted politicians to order harsher sentences for such crimes and create fast-track courts for rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders, but has failed to stem the rise in crimes against women.

Crimes against women in India increased by 4% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), released late last year.