But never before have the ire of a large section of the people been on display as after this heinous crime. For unlike sympathisers of other victims of similar outrages, a large cross-section of the people identified with the deceased girl, who was on the threshold of serving the unwell with greater medical skills, had her life not been cut down so untimely and tragically.

The opposition of the state cutting across the ideological divide have hit the streets. After all, they don’t get an opportunity often to catch the state government on the wrong foot.

Leader of the state Opposition, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, is arguably the most vocal in demanding the resignation of chief minister, Mamata Banerjee. But such demand is yet to gain support of the people.

Nor have the Congress and the CPI(M) made a chorus of this demand. Trainee doctors all over the state have put away their stethoscopes in protest against the incident. But their agitation is yet to be hijacked by any political outfit. The patients not getting medication have not yet turned their ire on the striking doctors.

However, the Opposition is out to extract whatever mileage it can from the incident. Clearly, for once, the ruling dispensation of TMC, which reacts shrilly to any charge against it, is for once caught on the wrong foot. And remains silent.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who happens to hold the health and home department portfolios, never fails to proclaim from the rooftops that she and her government have completed 100 per cent of their administrative goal but the latest event exposes the hollowness of her claims.

Her less than strident response on this issue is a pointer that she has gauged the people’s mood. It is against her government now and she is only too aware that she cannot pass the blame either to the Left-Congress or the BJP.

A gory rape and murder visiting the 31-year old in her place of work and study is a clear pointer that the entire system had failed her. A government hospital is not a desolate place.

It is guarded day and night by men in uniform as well as personnel of the private security agencies. One bows their head in shame and grief that the person alleged to be the rapist is a civic volunteer connected to the city police force's Disaster Management Group.

As the man in custody comes under the scanner, it opens a can of worms. A law unto himself, he did not possess some of the requisite qualifications like swimming skills which a DMG personnel ought to have. Obviously, he secured his job owing to the "blessings" of a powerful patron, who is yet to be named.

All these factors have put the TMC government in hot soup. And so far, there is little it can do to emerge unscathed from the mess of its own creation. Issues flagged year after year have surfaced. At RG Kar, CCTV cameras do not work; on-call rooms don’t have recordings, or enough security. There are ill-lit areas which women staffers prefer to avoid after dark. Inadequate security measures have made doctors increasingly vulnerable to violence.

The trainee doctor walked into the seminar room after a 36-hour at-a-stretch duty to rest awhile. One is not shy to ask the health minister the reason behind the absence of a dedicated post-duty waiting/relaxation room; after all, the powers that be had the funds to build huge gates which awe patients and their relatives when they walk into any government hospital.

Her lifeless heavily brutalised body was found the next morning bearing marks of grievous sexual assault. Meanwhile, a phone call went to her parents informing them that their daughter had “committed suicide”.

The caller, reported to be a hospital official, is yet to be interrogated. More surprises were in store for the heartbroken parents made to wait for hours after they have reached their deceased only child's place of work.

In sum, assurances that have been given in the aftermath of horrific gang rapes have turned into lip-service. That is why it calls for quieter introspection instead of the ongoing war of words between the ruling dispensation and the Opposition.

The RG Kar Medical College administration has to confront questions. Otherwise, it shirks the responsibilities towards its students and staff.

The hospital authorities are now between a rock and a hard place. And so is the TMC-led state government.

There is a suggestion for capital punishment or "encounter" for the alleged rapist from TMC general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee. It displays a tone-deaf reliance on instance justice from a kangaroo court.

It is a knee jerk reaction intending to end matters for once and for all. This is wishful thinking.

The image of the TMC government has been severely dented. As the 2026 Assembly elections come around, the Opposition will have a field day over this incident.

A CBI investigation has started into the incident following a direction of the court. The Trinamool leaders are pointing out that the central probe agency's record in cracking cases from this state and elsewhere is not high.

However, making the TMC’s belittling of CBI probe untenable, the Opposition has seized this opportunity to point out that when the TMC was in the Opposition, it never failed to seek a CBI investigation.

The ruling dispensation's grip on power has certainly been loosened in the wake of this horrendous episode. But the Opposition does not have the organisational muscle to convert the present anger into a big mass movement against the Mamata Banerjee government. (IPA Service)