Death will happen to everybody and that it is inevitable. The thing is, death comes differently for different people.
The question is not why death happens, but how, when, and where. Almost no one can predict their own death, and nearly everyone hopes for a peaceful passing.
Some people may die in peace, in the comfort of their bed, with their loved ones right beside them. Some people may die because of sickness, and many other reasons. And some people, may die because of an accident, or murder.
And in India, Moumita Debnath probably experienced one of the possibly worst and degrading death imaginable.
Her case was so severe, that it gripped the entire nation.
And the world that hears what happened to Debnath, is responding to the case with anger.
In Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state, resides a well-known grand colonial architecture, art galleries and cultural festivals.
But pretty much everything the city has to offer, seemingly blanketed by the case of a rape and murder of Moumita Debnath, a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH).
She passed away on August 9, in a probably most gruesome state one could ever imagine.
The night before she died, Debnath, a second-year student of chest medicine, had dinner with her juniors after the shift at around 2 a.m., and left for the seminar hall.
According to reports, the doctor was on 36-hour marathon duty on the fateful night, and that she was too tired for pretty much anything.
The next day, around 11 a.m., her body was found half naked inside the seminar hall of the 138-year-old government medical college.
And that was only the first glimpse of the horror Debnath had been through.
Early reports about the autopsy of the female doctor revealed injuries to her eyes, mouth, abdomen, neck, left leg, right hand, ring finger and her private parts.
There was also bleeding throughout her body, with shards of her broken glasses in the eyes.
Bite marks were also found on her body.
Her hyoid bone (neck bone) was said to be broken, with early reports stated that Debnath had her legs found at angles not possible if they weren't broken, her ring finger was broken, and that her pelvis was also fractured.
Early report suggested that inside her body, a "150 gm/mg of semen" was found through a vaginal swab.
For comparison, the amount of semen that is ejected during ejaculation varies widely among men, but typically, a single man can release around 10 milliliter of semen, or about a little less than a tablespoon. In this case, the 150 milliliter of semen allegedly found on the female doctor’s body, means that there could be more than 10 rapists.
Early report said that one of the culprits, who held Debnath’s hand throughout the torture was a female doctor who was her friend.
But then, the police clarified some of the allegation that had been spreading on the internet, debunking some as false.
For example, the claim about semen found inside her body was not true.
While the autopsy report does say "white thick viscid fluid" was found in the body, but the report doesn't mention what it was. The only mention, is the "151 gm," which is actually the weight of Debnath's genitalia.
During autopsy, a standard procedure is to weight every single organ inside the body, including the reproductive organs.
It's obligatory to weigh different body parts in post-mortem reports.
Also, there is no mention of any fracture in the report.
What were then verified to be real, include the various injuries on different body parts of her body, including the head, cheeks, lips, nose, right jaw, chin, neck, left arm, left shoulder, left knee, ankle and inside genitalia.
In all, the report states there were 16 external injuries on the victim's body
The report also noted hemorrhage in the lungs and blood clots in other parts of the body.
According to the autopsy, Debnath died due to manual strangulation associated with smothering. It's said that pressure was applied to her mouth and throat, resulting in a fracture to her thyroid cartilage.
The report suggests that all of her injuries were inflicted on her before her death, meaning that Debnath was suffering until her last breath.
The report also confirms that there was medical evidence of sexual assault, saying that there was evidence of "forceful penetration/insertion in her genitalia."
The Kolkata Police initially rejected the gang rape claims, claiming it to be just a rumors, saying that it is impossible to distinguish semen from multiple individuals with the naked eye during an autopsy.
But then evidence described in a postmortem report "indicates a strong possibility of the involvement of multiple persons."
Read: Global Outrage After A Video Of Two Women Paraded Naked Went Viral
Soon after the public realized that a young doctor was found dead at the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, the gruesome case sparked nationwide protests and strikes by doctors.
They said that the assault highlights the vulnerability of medics who work without proper safety facilities in hospitals and medical campuses across India.
Hospitals and clinics in many parts in India turned away patients except for emergency cases, as medical professionals started a nationwide protest against the brutal rape and murder of Debnath.
With more than one million doctors were expected to join the strike, the protest that is set to be one of the largest shutdown of hospital services in recent memory, is able to paralyze many medical services across the world's most populous nation.
To fill up the empty shifts, hospitals said that they even had to rely on faculty staff from medical colleges, many of whom were pressed into service for emergency cases.
"Resident doctors are on full strike, and because of that, the pressure is mounting on all faculty members, which means senior doctors," a medical superintendent said.
Outside the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the crime took place, armed policemen were present, while the hospital premises were deserted.
A large number of private clinics and diagnostic centers chooses to remain closed in Kolkata.
Then, suddenly, a 33-year-old civic volunteer named Sanjoy Roy was nabbed by the Kolkata Police a day later, and within only an hour after that, reports said that he admitted to the crime and asked for the death penalty.
Roy was said to be part of the admissions team.
But subsequent rumors and results from internet sleuths, as well as concerned citizens with some experts, the buzz is that the accused in the heinous crime is probably just a scapegoat, and the actual culprits are actually the junior interns at the college who are still roaming free.
The allegation stemmed from the inconsistencies in the police report.
Three days later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the domestic crime investigating agency of India, took over the investigation on the direction of the Calcutta High Court.
This happened after the Chief Justice rebuked the police and state over their botched-up investigation.
The central agency is then in charge with interrogating Dr. Sandip Ghosh, an orthopedic surgeon and the principal of college where the rape took place.
Ghosh is answerable for the fact that the assault took place during his watch, especially since doctors have argued that this is not the work of an outsider; but an inside job.
As it has been pointed by doctors and staff at the hospital, an outsider wouldn't be able to navigate the premises and pinpoint to Debnath's location without prior knowledge to her whereabouts. After all, the seminar hall, where Debnath was resting after her 36-hour shift, wasn't occupied at the time.
Besides Ghosh, the CBI has also summoned a number of medical students from the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital to ascertain the circumstances of the crime, according to a police source in Kolkata.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, has backed the protests across the state, demanding the investigation be fast-tracked and the guilty be punished in the strongest way possible.
Angered citizens, many of whom are women, urge the government to introduce tougher laws to deter a rising tide of violence against women.
"Women form the majority of our profession in this country. Time and again, we have asked for safety for them," Indian Medical Association (IMA) President R. V. Asokan said.
The IMA has called for further legal measures to better protect healthcare workers from violence and swift investigation of the "barbaric" crime in Kolkata.
The protests that happened in the following days, were more limited, affecting only government hospitals and elective surgeries.
Amid an outpour of social media outrage, netizens are slamming media for dubbing the Doctor Moumita Debnath rape-murder horror as "Nirbhaya 2.0."
Women activists say the incident has highlighted how women in India continue to suffer from sexual violence despite tougher laws brought in after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi.
While the government urges doctors to return to duty while it sets up a committee to suggest measures to improve protection for healthcare professionals, the nationwide protest couldn't help but said that Debnath's case is pretty similar to the notorious 2012 gang rape and murder.
India's government introduced sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after the Delhi gang rape, but campaigners said that little has changed.
Demonstrators that gathered near the parliament in New Delhi, held signs calling for accountability for the rape and killing as they gathered
"We want justice," the said, while waving signs that read "No safety, no service!."
Similar protests were held in other Indian cities such as Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Political parties, as well as a number of Bollywood stars and other high-profile celebrities, have also voiced shock at the crime and called for stricter punishments for the perpetrators.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the rising unrest during an event to mark the anniversary of India’s independence.
Without directly addressing the rape and murder case in Kolkata, he said that Indians should "seriously think about the kind of atrocities which are taking place against our mothers, sisters, daughters."
"There is anger about that in the country. Common masses are angry. I am feeling that anger," said Modi.
"Our nation, our society and our state governments need to take that seriously. Crime against women should be investigated more urgently."
But what made this case even more worrisome, initially, the family was misinformed of her death.
Officials of the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital lied to the family, and at first, said that Moumita Debnath had died by suicide.
People wonder the purpose of his deceit.
During questioning, Ghosh claimed that Debnath was like a daughter to him. If that is true, why didn't Ghosh not personally communicate her death with her family?
Debnath died under Ghosh's watch, meaning that as principle, he should be responsible to answer to all questions. But why didn't Ghosh file a complaint?
And why were the police was not summoned immediately?
Ghosh resigned from his job amid the protests surrounding the incident.
He cited his inability to endure the ongoing humiliation from social media criticism and defamatory remarks by politicians. But ironically, soon after his resignation, he was appointed as the principal of Calcutta National Medical College, a move that sparked further outrage.
Then, there is the fact that family members told doctors that they were offered money by the police, for silence.
And if not things are already getting worse, thugs were seen in the premises of the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, and that some of the protesters reported that they have assaulted the them.
A nursing staff said that the mobsters threatened to rape the female doctors in the same way as Debnath had been violated. And when they spoke to the police, the police simply left them to fend for themselves.
The mobsters were also seen breaking hospital properties, including those in the emergency room, and overturned one ambulance.
Videos from the clash showed that the police using batons and firing tear gas.
But generally, the protests were mostly peaceful throughout the nation.
The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits. As a public representative, I just spoke with @CPKolkata , urging him to ensure that every individual responsible for today’s violence is identified, held accountable, and made to face the law…
— Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) August 14, 2024
Protesting doctors added that Debnath's car was also vandalized on the night she was raped and killed.
That car was bought by Debnath's father, six months before the case.
Her father was worried about her daughter's frequent night shifts, and gave her the car so she could be safer while travelling at night.
"I wanted her to be safe on the roads at night but she wasn’t even safe at the hospital as a doctor on duty," the father said.
In the Kolkata rape, early reports from the media seem to suggest that there are attempts for some cover-ups. It seems that someone was tampering with the whole ordeal, as if trying to hide evidence.
In India, sexual violence against women is a widespread problem.
In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape – a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
And in India, a staggering 75% of doctors said they have experienced violence, and a majority of them feel stressed by the profession, according to a 2019 study in The Indian Journal of Psychiatry.
Thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to protest the rape and murder of a doctor in a government hospital in Kolkata city.
Women and girls in India have the right to live and work without fear for their safety. https://t.co/pAalIm3JjX pic.twitter.com/7iEVMNPUyL— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 17, 2024
Read: Gang Raped Travel Influencer Sparked Social Media Debate: Blaming It On India's 'Rape Culture'
Then, due to the nature of the web, the expected (but disturbing) result of something that went viral is that, the Rule 34 applies.
Following the case that went viral, unverified rumors claimed that Debnath’s rape had been recorded and uploaded to the internet.
As a result of this, a significant increase in search queries from those who seek the video is seen.
According to Google Trends, queries such as "Moumita Debnath porn" and "Dr. Moumita Debnath video" have experienced massive surges across India, with "Moumita Debnath rape video" and "Moumita Debnath rape photo" experiencing over 100% increase in searches.
Other keywords include “Moumita Debnath photo video” and "Moumita Debath last video," "Moumita Debnath body photo," "Moumita Debnath body postmortem" and more.
Not only in India, because the interest Moumita Debnath rape footage also increases significantly in neighboring countries, like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
But what makes it even concerning, the queries were not limited to Google or some other search engines.
A lot of people start searching for her name on porn websites as well.
