A particular hospital in Kolkata is on the news across the country in the wake of a tragic incident. I received a WhatsApp missive this morning regarding the founder of the hospital, Dr. Radha Gobindo Kar, or in abbreviation, Dr. R G Kar. Dr. RGK, a foreign returned Physician decorated with MRCP (no less) pooled in all his resources and donations to set up this hospital where he had envisioned that the poor of the society would receive treatment at nominal costs. For knowing who RGK was, here’s a writeup (https://www.getbengal.com/details/radha-govinda-kar-renaissance-man-of-betore)

Exactly twenty-three years ago, a girl in her teens, suffered a 15% minor burn (ironically when her parents were out of the house, in the evening on that day she was lighting a candle to pay obeisance to the Gods when her saree contracted the flame) and she was taken immediately to the nearest hospital, R G Kar (yes, the same that is now in the news), from where she never returned. Her wound turned septic owing to utter carelessness by the doctors and nurses. The death of their only child affected her parents so deeply that they lost all interest in their lives, as in most Indian families, the dreams and happiness of parents tend to reside on the happiness and well-being of their offsprings.

Relatives and Friends tried to provide solace and support to the parents of the departed for a few months after the incident. Thereafter, the demands of survival ability saw the well-wishers gradually going back to their own regular life, and the couple bereft of their only child had to grapple with the engulfing loneliness in the days ahead. This seclusion and pang affected the well-being of their physical and mental health and there occurred a gradual deterioration. I am a witness to their suffering because the teenager who bade goodbye to her mortal existence owing to mistreatment @ RG Kar happened to be my younger cousin from the maternal side. My mother recalled heart-wrenching words of her younger sister this morning. When the lifeless body was being draped in flowers before taking her to the crematorium, my aunt said “Bhebechilam meye ke biyer saaj a sajabo, aaj tar shrad-der jonno sajajchi.” (I thought I would drape my daughter for her marriage, but here I am decorating her for the ultimate journey)

As outrage against the horrific crime against the PG student of RGK surges across the Nation and the clamour reaches a crescendo, one hope that the culprit is caught and brought to book. Politics of Profit should be kept at bay. Society should reflect on how to deal with rising crimes against women and ensure their safety. For after a general interest flags on this issue a couple of months hence and the parents of the victims retire to their regular life sans their daughter, it becomes a challenge for the parents to carry on with their lives in a meaningful way. Some are unable to dispel the memories, just as in the case of my maternal aunt and her husband, and life becomes an uphill journey thereafter.

Every single horrific incident also brings a bad name to the legacy of luminaries like Dr. Radha Gobindo Kar who worked assiduously to build such institution.