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The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has handed the responsibility of the probe into the gruesome rape and murder of a Kolkata trainee doctor to two of its most senior women officers. Sampat Meena, Additional Director at the CBI, has led high-profile cases such as the 2020 Hathras rape-murder and the 2017 Unnao rape case. Seema Pahuja, Additional Superintendent of Police, was also part of the investigation team in the Hathras case.
Meena, a 1994 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand, is in charge of the 25-member CBI team investigating the rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which has led to nationwide outrage and protests by doctors.
The ground level investigation will be carried out by ASP Seema Pahuja, who received the gold medal twice for excellent investigation between 2007 and 2018. The officer, who wanted to take voluntary retirement once due to family responsibilities, was persuaded by then CBI Director not to quit.
A few years ago, Pahuja achieved a conviction in the rape and murder of a Class 10 student in Himachal Pradesh - a case that was difficult to crack.
The case, which saw several twists and turns, triggered outrage across Himachal Pradesh in 2017. The 16-year-old girl was raped and killed in a forest in Shimla's Kotkhai when she was returning home from her school on July 4, 2017. The case was handed to the CBI by the High Court.
A woodcutter was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2021.
In Hathras, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men. The woman succumbed to her injuries two weeks later at a hospital in New Delhi. The Uttar Pradesh administration's handling of the case, including allegations that the woman was cremated without the family's consent or their presence, led to a massive uproar.
The 2017 Unnao rape case was equally sensational in which a girl was kidnapped and raped by expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar.
