The rape and murder of a doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata had shamed humanity and “some stray voices” are aggravating the pain, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar said today, launching a fresh attack on Rajya Sabha MP and Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal.

Earlier, the Vice-President said at a public event that someone holding a position in the Supreme Court bar and also a member of Parliament had said the Kolkata incident was a “symptomatic malaise” and suggested that such incidents are commonplace. The remark was aimed at Mr Sibal, the Supreme Court Bar Association president who is also representing the Mamata Banerjee government in the sensitive rape-murder case. Mr Sibal purportedly used the expression in a resolution by the Supreme Court Bar Association, of which he is the president.

Addressing an event at AIIMS Rishikesh today, the Vice-President said incidents like the one in Kolkata put the entire civilisation to shame. “When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly they are adding salt to our injured conscience. What do they say, ‘it is a symptomatic malaise, a frequent incident’. When it comes from someone who is the Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree,” he said.

“There can be no alibi for such kind of demonising thoughts. I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender apology. This is not an occasion where you should be looking through political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity,” the Vice-President added.

The Vice-President underlined the need for safety of doctors at the workplace. “A doctor can help only to a limit. A doctor cannot convert himself to god. He is next to God, so when somebody dies, out of emotive feelings and uncontrolled feelings, doctors are not given the treatment they deserve… .security of the doctors, nurses, compounders, health warriors must be impregnably protected.”

The Vice-President also criticised the “selective silence” of NGOs. “Certain NGOs on road for drop of an incident, drop of a hat are in Silence mode. We have to question them. Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of perpetrators of this heinous crime on August 9 2024. Those who seek to play politics and earn brownie points, are not responding to the call of their conscience,” he said.

“It is not an occasion to earn Brownie points, score political mileage. This is non partisan. It requires bi-partisan concerted efforts. There is a need for convergence of all stakeholders in democracy, to come together on one platform,” he added.

Earlier, President Droupadi Murmu had expressed her anguish at the crimes against women. Saying that “enough is enough”, she had said it is time for India to wake up to the “perversion” of crimes against women and counter the mindset that sees women as “less powerful, less capable, less intelligent”.

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed concern over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College, criticising comments by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and NGO silence on the incident. He called for public sensitivity and stronger measures to ensure women’s safety amid the national outrage.

A 13-year-old girl receiving pneumonia treatment was allegedly molested by a laboratory technician in the CT scan room at a Howrah hospital. After disclosing the assault to her mother, the technician was confronted and arrested. The hospital administration and police are investigating, providing security to the victim and family during the ongoing probe. A video of the confrontation between the girl’s mother and the accused has circulated on social media.