The Sealdah court hearing the RG Kar Medical College case, sentenced the lone accused Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a trainee doctor in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year. The court also ordered Roy to pay Rs 50,000 as fine. Additional district and sessions judge Anirban Das, while pronouncing the sentence, however said: “I feel that it is not rarest of rare,” justifying his decision of not giving death penalty to the convict. He also directed the State Government to pay Rs 17 lakh as compensation — Rs 10 lakh for death and Rs 7 lakh for rape on duty — to the victim’s family.
As the victim’s father refused to accept any compensation, the judge said: “I don’t think money can compensate any death. It was the liability of the State to protect your daughter as she was on duty (when she was raped and murdered). This is a statutory provision. If you take it, you can use it… I gave whatever I felt. You can move to the higher court.” Upon convicting Roy on Saturday, Justice Das had informed him that the minimum sentence being faced by him was life imprisonment, while the maximum sentence could be the death penalty. Roy was found guilty under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 64 (rape), 66 (causing injury resulting in death of rape victim), and 103 (1) (murder). Section 103(1) provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment; section 66 provides for imprisonment of not less than 20 years, which may be extended to life; and section 64 lays down imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which may extend to life in prison.
Earlier in the day, Roy claimed in the court that he was innocent and had been “wrongly held guilty.” “I am being framed and have not committed any crime. I have not done anything, and still, I have been held guilty,” Roy told the court ahead of sentencing in the case. During the proceedings, the CBI lawyer and the counsel for the victim’s parents pleaded for the highest penalty for the convict. Emphasising the gravity of the crime, the CBI counsel stated: “Creating such an offence is a rarest of rare crimes.”
“Two sections give death. This case comes under arrest of rare punishment be given so that it sets precedence and brings confidence in society,” the CBI argued. The court relied on forensic reports which pointed to the involvement of Roy in the incident, placing his DNA at the scene and on the person of the deceased doctor. The parents of the victim said they were not at all satisfied with the verdict. They claimed that the investigation was done half-heartedly and several other culprits involved in the crime were shielded.
“We are shocked. How can this not be the rarest of the rare case? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered while being on duty. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime,” the mother said. Junior doctors who had spearheaded protests after the murder, expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict. The junior doctors called for further investigation into the larger conspiracy allegations raised by the victim’s parents. They cited unresolved questions and the absence of action against other potential suspects, demanding a more thorough investigation into the case, including the motive and the involvement of others.
“It’s an institutional crime and can never be the job of one person. There was more than one person involved in it. We cannot accept the quantum of punishment and the financial compensation to the family of the deceased. This is very unsatisfactory and unacceptable,” Dr Rajiv Pandey, a senior doctor, said. Senior doctor Dr Punyabrata Gun said that they would continue demonstrations in the State demanding justice for their deceased colleague. “Our demonstration will continue as we believe that there were others involved. The matter has been hushed up and we will continue our protest,” Gun said. One of the junior doctors, Aniket Mahato, who has been one of the prominent faces of the agitating doctors said they are not happy with the verdict.
“From Day one, we have been saying that there are multiple people involved in it. Where are the others? We will continue our protest on the road,” Mahato said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s verdict and asserted that had the case been handled by the Kolkata Police, the death penalty would have been ensured. “All of us have demanded the death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death…The case was forcibly taken from us. Had it been with the (Kolkata) police, we would have ensured that he was served a death sentence,” she told reporters. “We don’t know how the probe was conducted. In many similar cases that were probed by the state police, death penalty was ensured. I am not satisfied,” she said.
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya, who is also his party’s organisational co-in charge for West Bengal, called for appealing against the judgement and for probe agencies to investigate the role of the then Kolkata Police Commissioner and Mamata Banerjee for allegedly destroying the evidence. He said on X, “Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed.” Senior BJP leader Agnimitra Paul also expressed dissatisfaction with the sentencing and demanded “capital punishment” and a supplementary charge sheet, as well as further investigation to find out other culprits involved in the crime.
