A court in Kolkata’s Sealdah Monday sentenced Sanjoy Roy to life imprisonment “until his last breath” for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar College and Hospital.
Roy, a 35-year-old civic volunteer, was convicted under Sections 64 (punishment for rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or a persistent vegetative state to a woman) and 101 (1) (murder) in a ruling that came five months after the August 9 incident sparked outrage and triggered massive protests of doctors in West Bengal.
While reading out its ruling, the court said it wasn’t “rarest of rare case”. “…so, for the rape (Section 64) you (Roy) are given life imprisonment with Rs 50,000 fine. If the fine isn’t paid, an extra five months have to be served. For Section 103(1) (murder) and for Section 66 (punishment for causing death or a persistent vegetative state to a woman), you are given a whole life (left term). Till your last breath, you will remain in jail,” Judge Anirban Das said, also ordering the state government to give Rs 17 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family.
The sentence, given by additional sessions Judge Anirban Das in a full court at 2:47 pm, came following 66 days of in-camera trial and examination of 120 witnesses.
As Roy was brought in at 12:41 pm, Sealdah’s court room 210 was packed. Roy, who wore a grey hoodie and green pants, took to the witness stand when he came. Asked if he had anything to say, Roy claimed he had been “framed”.
“All the allegations are false. I’m implicated. I’m innocent but I’m not allowed to say anything, I’ve been tortured, beaten and forced to sign papers.”
In their arguments before the court, the Central Bureau of Investigation – the agency that probed the case — argued for capital punishment, saying that the incident “shook the entire country”.
“The victim was a young doctor on duty for the last 36 hours,” CBI’s counsel Anurag Modi argued. “She was in the hospital to help patients… She was a meritorious student… an asset to society. The offence shook the entire country. It’s a gruesome crime… This case comes under the rarest of rare, (and) punishment should be given so that it sets a precedent and brings some confidence to society.”
The victim’s family too argued that Roy deserved death penalty, saying that he was a “civic volunteer entrusted with the welfare of the RG Kar patients”.
Shejuti Chakraborty, the counsel for Roy, however argued that death penalty can be given “only when all doors are closed and there’s zero scope for reform”.
“Do we know the evidence is sufficient to convict the person for the rarest of rare crime? There always lingers a (doubt) on the absolute truth. I will move to court for alternative punishment,” he said.
Soon after the ruling, the victim’s father said he didn’t want the compensation. “I want justice for my daughter,” he said, demanding harsher punishment.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too said she wasn’t “satisfied with the punishment”.
“From the first day, we’ve been demanding capital punishment. The case was taken away from us (Kolkata Police), and the CBI did the investigation. There should have been ultimate punishment for a person who committed such a crime,” Banerjee said while speaking with the media in Murshidabad.
Governor C V Ananda Bose called for better security measures for women. According to a press communiqué from Raj Bhawan, the Governor emphasized that while the judicial punishment in such cases is important, “it alone cannot address the broader societal issues contributing to increasing incidents of violence against women”.
“Punishment, no matter how severe, does not end the problems. The rising incidences of rapes, assaults, and murders are alarming and reflect a deeper societal malaise,” Bose said.
On August 9, the body of the doctor was found at the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, triggering an indefinite strike from doctors. A day later, the Kolkata Police, which was initially investigating the case, arrested Roy.
The CBI, which took over in September, framed charges against Roy on December 4.
During the trial, the CBI relied heavily on biological evidence, saying DNA samples and saliva swabs on the victim’s body matched that of Roy. The victim, according to the agency, had put up a struggle, leaving evidence of five blunt force injuries on Roy’s body.
Meanwhile, the CBI has also arrested Tala police station officer-in-charge Abhijit Mandal and former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh for attempting to cover up the case, although they were granted bail in December after the agency failed to file a chargesheet against them within the mandated 90n days. Ghosh, however, remains in judicial custody in another case pertaining to alleged financial irregularities at the medical college.