6 months after life in RG Kar case, same court gives death for twin murders
Times of India | 3 July 2025
Kolkata: Sealdah trial judge Anirban Das, who sent the RG Kar rape-murder accused to life behind bars, sentenced a 45-year-old to death on Wednesday for murdering and robbing an elderly Chitpore couple 10 years ago. The judge ordered that Sanjay Sen, alias Bappa, "be hanged from the neck until dead" for murdering the couple — both retired professors — who trusted him and even paid for his marriage.
The judge, on Jan 20, sentenced RG Kar rape-and-murder accused Sanjoy Roy to life behind bars and spared him death, reasoning that "we must rise above the primitive instinct of ‘an eye for an eye' or ‘a tooth for a tooth' or ‘a nail for a nail' or ‘a life for a life'.
" Roy, 35, was also fined Rs 50,000, failing which he would have to serve another five months in prison. In handing out the life term, and not death, judge Das turned down the final CBI argument that the Aug 9 rape-murder of the 31-year-old PGT intern "was a rarest of rare crime which deserved capital punishment". The CBI has now challenged the life imprisonment order in the Calcutta High Court.
In the 2015 case, however, the court was moved by the brutality of the double murders. The only daughter of the victims was settled in the US. Pran Gobinda Das (77) was a former professor at Burdwan University, and Renuka Das (75) taught history at Sarojini Naidu College in Dum Dum. They were found dead with multiple injuries, their home ransacked with cash and gold jewellery stolen. Sen murdered the couple with an iron rod, leaving behind a trail of blood. The post-mortem examination confirmed the deaths were homicidal, caused by ante-mortem injuries.
The brutal murder first prompted the investigators to dig out people who had access to the room. This included the domestic help and Sen, her husband. Police also learnt that Sen, referred to as Bappa locally, was strongly admonished by the elderly couple for mistreating his wife. Sen was questioned, and his fidgety replies on alibis prompted cops to arrest him and question him in custody. Sen then broke down. Stolen gold ornaments and Rs 1,87,000 in cash were recovered from a hidden location in East Midnapore's Nandigram. The murder weapon, an iron pipe, and blood-stained clothes were retrieved from a pond near Sen's rental home in Chitpore's Sarba Khan Road.
During the 10-year-old trial, 30 witnesses were examined. The case was initially registered based on a complaint by Partha Sen, the victims' nephew, and the police filed the charge sheet within the stipulated 90-day period, ensuring an in-custody trial. The state demanded maximum punishment, arguing that acts against senior citizens would not be tolerated. The defence counsel plans to appeal the verdict in a higher court. Death penalties by trial courts need to be ratified by the Calcutta High Court.