Students of RG Kar Medical College watch the Supreme Court hearing at their protest site. PTI

Calcutta:

Kolkata police yesterday filed a timeline in the Supreme Court of events and actions in the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor that has led to nationwide protests. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal stressed that the city police had followed the procedure meticulously.

However, there are a number of points raised by the city police that contradict the CBI’s findings and what the victim’s parents have said in their petition.

Here’s a look at what Kolkata police said and the questions that remain open

The timeline

August 9, 9:30 am: A first-year postdoctoral intern sees the victim’s body from a distance. He informs his colleagues and senior doctors, who alert the hospital authorities.

10.10 am: Tala police station receives information about the incident from a police post at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The officers are informed that the body of a woman is lying unconscious on a wooden platform in a seminar hall on the third floor of the temporary building. They are told that the body is half-naked. The information is entered as a general diary entry and officers leave for the spot.

10.30 am: Police officers arrive on scene and assess the situation. Senior officers are informed and the crime scene is secured.

10.52 am: The deputy director of the hospital informs the victim’s family and asks them to come quickly.

11:00 am: Homicide squad arrives on scene.

12.25 pm: Photographer and videographer from the scientific wing of the detective department arrive at the scene. The first photograph of the body is taken at 12:29 pm. Fingerprint and footprint experts also arrive at the scene, as do several senior officers from the Kolkata police. The forensic team is called.

12.44 pm: The doctor on duty examines the victim and declares her dead.

1:00 PM: The victim’s parents arrive at the hospital, meet with authorities and after 10 minutes are taken to the seminar room.

13.47 hrs: The medical certificate and death certificate of the victim are handed over to the police. The police officer notes injuries on the body, including intimate parts, and an unnatural death is declared.

3:00 PM: The victim’s family and colleagues are demanding a judicial investigation and an autopsy in the presence of an examining magistrate and with the help of video footage, first orally and then in writing.

4:10 p.m.: The magistrate arrives, the investigation is carried out between 16:20 and 16:40. The victim’s family and colleagues are present and the proceedings are filmed.

6:10 PM – 7:10 PM: Autopsy by a board of forensic physicians in the presence of the magistrate. Relatives and colleagues of the victim are present and the procedure is filmed.

8:00 PM: Dog team arrives on scene. Between 20:37 and 20:52: 3D mapping of the crime scene.

8:30 PM – 10:45 PM: 40 items seized by forensic team, filmed and local witnesses present. Body will be handed over to family after autopsy.

23:45 hrs: FIR registered on the complaint of victim’s father on charges of rape and murder

Police said the search for suspects and interrogation of the victim’s colleagues began on August 9. The next morning, at 10 am, accused Sanjay Roy was arrested “after his lengthy interrogation and confession”. His is the only arrest so far in the case, which is now being investigated by the CBI following an order by the Calcutta High Court.

The big questions

Confirmation of death: According to the police timeline, the body was first discovered at 9.30 am and a doctor on duty confirmed death at 12.44 pm — more than three hours later. When the local police station was informed, they were told that a woman had been found unconscious. Attorney General Tushar Mehta questioned this in the Supreme Court yesterday, saying that a doctor was not required to know whether it was a dead body. “Doctors inform the police that there is an unconscious body.”

The suicide corner: The victim’s parents told the Calcutta High Court that they received a call from the hospital at 10.53 am and were told that their daughter was unwell. Another call, at 11.15 am, said she had committed suicide. The Kolkata Police timeline mentions only one call and does not mention suicide at all.

Did parents have to wait?: In their petition filed in the Supreme Court, the doctor’s parents said that they had to wait for three hours before they were allowed to see the body. The victim’s mother told the media that she pleaded with the hospital authorities to let her see her daughter’s body but in vain. However, as per the police timeline, the parents were taken to the seminar hall soon after they reached the hospital. The lawyer for the West Bengal government also told the Supreme Court that the parents did not have to wait.

Delay in filing FIR: Both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court have wondered why a case of unnatural death was filed and the hospital authorities did not file a complaint on the basis of which an FIR could be filed. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said yesterday: “Procedure is a separate issue but the point remains. What is the reason for filing the FIR almost 14 hours after the discovery of the (body)? The main thing is that the principal of the college should have come to the college immediately and directed the filing of the FIR.”

The crime scene: According to the police timeline, the crime scene was secured at 10.30 am – an hour after the body was first spotted. Even after the mob vandalism at the hospital in the early hours of August 15, the Kolkata police maintained that the crime scene was secure. But the CBI has refuted this. Attorney General Tushar Mehta had said in the Supreme Court case yesterday: “We started the investigation on the fifth day… The investigation itself was challenging as the crime scene had been altered. The FIR was registered only after the cremation at 11.45 pm.”