In RG Kar rape-murder verdict, Kolkata court slams police, hospital: ‘Tried to show death as suicide’

Judge Anirban Das questioned why the FIR in the case was registered after 11:30 pm when the incident was reported on the morning of August 9 last year.

In his verdict of the RG Kar rape and murder case, a trial court judge in Sealdah on Monday slammed the role of the hospital authorities, including former principal Sandeep Gosh, in trying to cover up the death of the victim as suicide to avoid liability.

Police barricade the Civil and Criminal Court, Sealdah as court pronounced judgement on rape-murder incident of on-duty PGT doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata, India, on Monday,(Samir Jana/Hindustan Times)

Judge Anirban Das also questioned the initial investigation of the Kolkata Police in the case, highlighting the acts of some police officers during the initial days.

"There is no doubt to consider that from the end of any authority, efforts were made to show the death as a suicidal one so that the hospital authority would not face any consequences. From the case record it appears that the said ‘illegal dream’ of the authority was not fulfilled as the Junior doctors raised protest and submitted one memorandum to the Principal and at that time, police force started their action but it caused sufficient delay and probably it was the reason for which the parents of the victim were not allowed to see their daughter. Being the court of law, I condemn such attitude of the RG Kar hospital authority," the judge observed, according to a LiveLaw report.

Judge Das questioned why the FIR in the case was registered after 11:30pm when the incident was reported on the morning of August 9 last year. He also “noted with surprise” that the process of seizure and starting of the unnatural death case was noted in the GD book after 11:30pm.

“From his evidence it also came out that another GD vide GD No. 542 dated 09.08.2024 was registered at Tala PS GDE book which contained noting of receiving of information regarding unnatural death of a doctor at RG Kar Hospital. It was his admission that GD no. 452 dated 09.08.2024 was in his own handwriting and he had noted the same after coming back from the scene of crime by mentioning the time as 10.10 am, when he was not physically present at Tala PS,” the judge observed, according to a PTI report.

According to the judge, this evidence of one SI of police was an eye opener that police stations were treating the cases in a very indifferent manner. He said that It was also shocking that the concerned SI did not hesitate to say such illegal acts standing in the witness box.

Adding that he did not expect such type of evidence from an officer in the rank of SI of Police, judge Das said that it shows how they have entertained the issue even when the case became a sensitive one.

Referring to the slackness in discharge of duties shown by yet another senior officer of the police station of the rank of Additional OC, the judge underlined how the personnel left the convict’s mobile phone at the Police Station unattended.

Das noted that the Kolkata Police Commissioner should strictly tackle such “illegal/indifferent acts of the police personnel” and ensure proper training to the officers regarding investigation, especially in the cases where it rests upon circumstantial/electronic and scientific evidence.

The RG Kar rape and murder case verdict

Judge Das sentenced the convict Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment, saying that the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category.

Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was brought to the court in Kolkata to pronounce the sentence amid tight security arrangements. He had been found guilty of the crime by the court on Saturday.

When asked about his charges, Sanjay Roy claimed that he had not done anything and was being "falsely implicated."

"I have not done anything, neither rape nor murder. I am being falsely implicated. You have seen everything. I am innocent. I already told you that I was tortured. They made me sign whatever they wanted," accused Sanjay Roy said.

The deceased doctor's mother, however, expressed disappointment over the investigation by the CBI, alleging that “other perpetrators involved in the crime had not been brought to justice”. As the judge ordered the state to pay the family of the victim a compensation of Rs. 17 lakh, the family said that they didn’t want any compensation but justice for their daughter.