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RG Kar case: Sanjay Roy sentenced to life imprisonment in rape, murder of doctor

Jan 20, 2025 03:18 PM IST

Roy was declared guilty by the court on Saturday under Sections 66 (rape), 64 (causing injury resulting in death) and 103 (1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)

34-year-old Sanjoy Roy was on Monday sentenced to life term till death by Kolkata’s Sealdah court in rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The court also ordered the state government to give a compensation of <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>17 lakh to the victim’s family. (File photo)
The court also ordered the state government to give a compensation of 17 lakh to the victim’s family. (File photo)

Roy was declared guilty by the court on Saturday under Sections 66 (rape), 64 (causing injury resulting in death) and 103 (1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The court also ordered the state government to give a compensation of 17 lakh to the victim’s family.

Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge of the trial court, announced the verdict around 2:50pm after hearing the accused, who pleaded innocence, the victim’s parents and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the crime following an order the Calcutta high court passed on August 13.

Also Read: RG Kar rape-murder: CBI seeks highest penalty for Sanjay Roy

The Chief Justice of India (CJI)’s bench in the Supreme Court took over the hearing on September 20 through a suo motu petition.

Before Monday’s hearing started, the parents told the media that the CBI had failed to catch the other suspects.

“We are disappointed with CBI, but we are confident that the judge will make the federal agency continue with the investigation,” the victim’s father said.

During a 36-minute hearing preceding the pronouncement of punishment, the parents and CBI’s lawyer Partha Sarathi Dutta prayed for capital punishment for Roy.

During the hearing, Dutta described the crime as “rarest of the rare.”

Roy, who was brought to the court around 10:40am from Kolkata’s Presidency correctional home amid tight security, argued before the judge that he was framed by the Kolkata Police that arrested him August 10, a day after the crime. The in-camera trial of Roy ended on January 9.

During Monday’s hearing, Roy’s lawyers prayed for any punishment other than death sentence. On Saturday, the judge declared Roy guilty in a crowded courtroom.

“... The minimum punishment for your crime is life imprisonment and maximum punishment is death sentence...,” the judge said, directly addressing Roy.

Roy, a former civic volunteer working for Kolkata Police, was named as the principal accused in the CBI chargesheet. The trial took place every day (except holidays) for two months at the Sealdah court. The judge examined 51 witnesses. The charges against Roy were framed by CBI on October 4.

During the trial, Roy’s lawyer Saurav Banerjee argued that evidence against the suspect was planted to frame him.

Amartya Dey, the lawyer representing the victim’s family at the Sealdah court, demanded death sentence for Roy but argued that he did not commit the crime alone.

The victim’s parents moved the Supreme Court in early-January demanding punishment for other suspects in the crime.

The CBI has not yet framed charges against Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College, and Abhijit Mondal, the local Tala police station’s former officer-in-charge, although both were arrested by CBI and charged with tampering of evidence.

Ghosh is facing investigation in a separate case relating to financial corruption at the hospital.

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