West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | RG Kar victim's parents say only regime change can deliver justice

Kolkata: The parents of a woman doctor who was raped and murdered inside state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here asserted that only the BJP can end the "misrule" of the TMC in West Bengal and ensure justice for their daughter as well as the safety of women in the state.

The victim's mother has been fielded by the BJP in the assembly polls from Panihati constituency, considered a TMC stronghold, in North 24 Parganas district.

Nearly a year-and-a-half after the rape and murder of their 26-year-old daughter inside a locked seminar room of the state-run hospital in August 2024, a crime that sparked nationwide outrage and months of protests across campuses and medical institutions, the parents said they now believe political change is essential for the truth to fully emerge.

In an interview to PTI, the parents said their resolve to align with the BJP and the mother's decision to contest the assembly elections was driven by their continuing fight for justice.

"Only the BJP can ensure justice for my daughter and provide safety and security to the women of the state," the deceased doctor's father told PTI.

"We had been saying from the beginning that we would not allow anyone to indulge in politics with our child's death. But what did the Left do other than just protest?

"The way they ruled the state earlier and now the way they are indirectly helping the TMC to stay in power -- we do not want to know who their candidate is who is contesting against us," he said.

The victim's father said the couple would campaign together in the constituency.

"My wife and I are a team. Both of us will move together across the constituency and campaign against the TMC," he said.

Asked whether they would campaign even in Bhabanipur, from where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is contesting, he said, "If the party wants, we will campaign there also to ensure her defeat."

The victim's mother said she had earlier received an offer from the BJP but was not mentally prepared to enter politics at that time.

"I had long back received offers from all political parties, including the TMC and the BJP, but I was not mentally ready then. Recently, I decided to contest the polls because I want to end the misrule of the Trinamool Congress," she said.

"Given incidents of violence against women and the urgent need for their safety, I personally expressed my desire to become a BJP candidate and held discussions with the party leadership," she said.

Her candidature from Panihati signals the BJP's attempt to politically channel the anger and emotional resonance of the RG Kar protest that had drawn doctors, students and civil society members to the streets for months demanding justice.

"If I win, the people of Panihati will win. I will raise my voice for those who have forgotten how to protest," she said.

"If I can serve people, my daughter will also be happy. I want the lotus to bloom across West Bengal and TMC to be uprooted," she added.

The deceased doctor's father insisted their entry into politics was not about power.

"We are not joining politics for power. We are doing this so that women in West Bengal are safe from the 'goondaraj' of the TMC," he said.

The young doctor's body was discovered on August 9, 2024 inside the seminar hall of the Chest Medicine Department on the fourth floor of the hospital's emergency building.

The brutality of the crime and the fact that it occurred inside a government hospital sent shockwaves across the state and beyond.

"It wasn't just a murder. It was a message that even the brightest women are not safe, not even inside a hospital," the father said.

A civic volunteer, Sanjay Roy, was arrested and later sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder. But the victim's family and several activists insist that more people were involved in the crime.

"From day one, we have been saying that more than one person was involved. She was a strong girl. There is no way only one man could have done this inside such a secure building," the mother said.

"All the early cover-ups point to a bigger nexus," she alleged.

Her father also claimed attempts were made to destroy evidence.

"There were three bodies at the crematorium that day. Yet our daughter's body was cremated first. Why the hurry? Steps were taken to wipe out evidence," he alleged.

Two other arrests followed in the case, Sandip Ghosh, the then principal of the hospital, and Abhijit Mondal, former officer-in-charge of Tala police station, on charges of misleading the probe.

The parents also expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of the investigation.

"They say they are probing a larger conspiracy. They will drag this for 10 or 20 years until we are dead and gone. That is their strategy to exhaust the parents and those seeking justice," the father said.

"But we will fight till the end," he added.

Recalling his daughter's dreams, he said she had wanted to serve the poor.

"She wanted to open a clinic for poor people. She just wanted to heal others. We lost our only daughter. She was all we had. We will fulfill her dream," he added.