Kolkata: The National Commission for Women (NCW) has made several scathing observations regarding security, or rather the lack of it, in and around the private medical college in West Bengal’s Durgapur. A girl from Odisha, who is a second-year MBBS student at the college, was dragged into a forest and gang-raped on Friday evening when she was out for some snacks with a male friend.
“Upon visiting the hospital and the scene of the crime, it was observed that the road leading from the hospital passes through a densely wooded area that remains completely dark at night. There is a total absence of street lighting and surveillance, making it unsafe for pedestrians, particularly women. This represents a grave administrative failure on the part of the State Government, municipal authorities, and law enforcement agencies,” the NCW has stated in its report.
“It is alarming that such a major medical institution, employing and training over a thousand female students and healthcare professionals, lacks even basic security infrastructure. No evidence of regular police patrolling was found, despite the area being commonly known for anti-social and criminal activities. The State Government had previously announced the “Raatri’r Saathi” project following the RG Kar incident to ensure the safety of women traveling at night; however, the initiative appeared to be non-functional in this region,” the report adds.
It has further been mentioned that the principal and the medical superintendent informed that an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) exists and conducts meetings regularly.
“However, no posters or displays regarding the ICC, POSH guidelines, committee members, or contact information were found anywhere within the hospital premises. This is a clear violation of the provisions under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013,” the report states.
“It was further observed that the police had not cordoned off the crime scene even by 12th October 2025, creating a high possibility of evidence tampering. No proper forensic examination at the place of occurrence (POC) was conducted. These serious procedural lapses indicate gross negligence on the part of the local investigating authorities,” it has been noted.
While the police have arrested five persons in this connection, a major political row has broken out in West Bengal over the issue. Things turned worse after chief minister Mamata Banerjee suggested that girls should not be allowed outside after dark and questioned what the survivor was doing in the forested area at 12.30 am.
This despite reports that the crime occurred around 8.30 pm and her parents in Odisha were informed about it by the survivor’s friends by 10 pm.
