The chilling echoes of the RG Kar Medical College horror have barely faded, yet West Bengal finds itself engulfed in another storm of outrage and despair. On the evening of October 20, a woman doctor at Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Government Medical College & Hospital, Uluberia was brutally assaulted and threatened with rape and murder allegedly by Sheikh Babulal, a Home Guard under the Police Ministry, and a known aide of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders.
The victim, a senior resident in the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, was performing her duty when she was attacked by a group that included the home guard and a local TMC neta, Sheikh Hasibul. The incident has sent shockwaves through the medical community and reignited fierce public anger against the Mamata Banerjee-led government, accused of fostering a culture of impunity where even those tasked with protecting the public turn predators.
According to eyewitnesses and a written complaint filed by the victim, the attack occurred after a disagreement over the medical examination of a pregnant woman admitted from Kharia Maynapur. When the doctor attempted to explain that a senior physician would review the case, the patient’s relatives joined by outsiders began to verbally abuse, shove, and slap her.
“They pulled her hair, slapped her repeatedly, and told her she would be raped if she dared to step outside the hospital,” said a colleague. “There were no security personnel to intervene not even a guard on duty. The hospital corridors echoed with her screams.”
The absence of security, even after repeated demands from doctors across the state, has once again exposed the mockery of hospital safety under the TMC government. Police have confirmed the arrest of Sheikh Babulal, a Home Guard attached to the Howrah district police, and Sheikh Hasibul, a local TMC leader, after reviewing CCTV footage. Three others have been detained for questioning.
That a Home Guard under the Police Minister herself, Mamata Banerjee, stands accused of threatening a woman with rape has added a disturbing political dimension to the crime. Opposition leaders and doctor associations alike are calling this incident “the final proof of total state collapse.”
The West Bengal Doctors Forum (WBDF) issued a blistering statement on October 21, condemning the attack in the strongest terms:
“This is not an isolated crime. It is a symptom of the total lawlessness that has gripped our healthcare system. Hospitals in West Bengal have turned into unsafe war zones where doctors, nurses, and staff serve under constant fear,” the WBDF declared.
“When those sworn to uphold the law become part of the mob, it exposes the complete moral and administrative collapse of the state apparatus. The Government of West Bengal has failed. The police have failed. The judiciary has failed. The entire administrative machinery has betrayed its doctors.”
The forum has demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of all accused, including the police personnel, as well as a judicial inquiry into hospital security negligence and permanent armed security presence in all government hospitals.
Reacting to the incident, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar launched a sharp attack on the Chief Minister:
“After the bone-chilling R.G. Kar Medical College rape and murder, Mamata Banerjee’s loud claims of women’s safety stand completely exposed. Now a woman doctor has been threatened with rape by a Home Guard under her own police administration. The Chief Minister and her incompetent, complicit police force are squarely to blame,” Majumdar said on X.
After the bone-chilling R.G. Kar Medical College rape and murder incident, the Chief Minister’s loud claims stand completely exposed. The latest proof – the shocking incident at Uluberia Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Government Medical College in Howrah.
A woman doctor was… pic.twitter.com/JfaFXxioL8
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) October 21, 2025
BJP West Bengal also slammed Mamata government in a post on X, with hashtag #MahilaBirodhiMamata expressing outrage at the continuing violence against women in the state. “No woman is spared be they doctors, students, or citizens. While Mamata tells women to stay indoors after 8 pm, her own men are out terrorising them,” the post read.
SHEIKH BABULAL,
Home Guard under POLICE MINISTER MAMATA, and close aide of TMC leaders,
Allegedly threatened a junior doctor with RAPE and MURDER in Uluberia Hospital.#MahilaBirodhiMamata has appointed such goons and criminals in the police force, that they themselves are… pic.twitter.com/7pB7EfnkOs
— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) October 21, 2025
This incident follows the R.G. Kar Medical College tragedy, where a woman doctor was raped and murdered inside the hospital premises earlier this year a case that triggered national protests and exposed the rot in Bengal’s law enforcement and healthcare systems.
Doctors now say the Uluberia attack is not an aberration, but a pattern a pattern of intimidation, administrative apathy, and moral decay. “Every such incident deepens the wound, erodes faith, and pushes healthcare closer to paralysis. No civilised society can expect doctors to serve under terror,” WBDF’s statement concluded.
The assaulted doctor is said to be deeply traumatised and living in fear. Junior doctors across several state hospitals are now mulling symbolic protests and work boycotts demanding justice. Meanwhile, hospital authorities and state officials remain tight-lipped, with no official statement yet from the Health Department or the Chief Minister’s Office.
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