A special CBI court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment on Monday for the rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital last year.
The court rejected the central agency's request for the death penalty. Additionally, it ordered the state government to pay ₹17 lakh as compensation to the victim's family.
While delivering the verdict, Judge Anirban Das stated that the case did not qualify as one of the "rarest of rare" cases that would warrant capital punishment.
In response to the court's compensation order, the victim's father expressed that they did not want the money. The magistrate responded, "I am directing the state government to pay the compensation because the law mandates it. What you choose to do with the compensation is entirely up to you, but I must pass this order."
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remarked that the state government could have pursued the death penalty more effectively.
"Recently, we secured three death sentences in different cases after speedy trials that lasted less than two months. The CBI was handed the investigation. I believe, had the Kolkata police completed their probe, we could have secured a death sentence for the accused," she said.
"All of us had demanded a death sentence, but the court has given a life term until death. We don’t know how the probe was conducted. In many similar cases that were probed by the state police, the death penalty was ensured. I am not satisfied," CM Banerjee added.
Also read: RG Kar Rape-murder convict sentenced to life imprisonment, ₹50K fine
Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata police, pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence. However, the magistrate informed him, "You have been found guilty of committing this crime. You know better than anyone what happened to the deceased."
The body of the trainee doctor was discovered on August 9 last year on the elevated platform of a third-floor seminar room, where she had been sleeping after completing a 36-hour shift. The inquest report indicated about ten observations that suggested a brutal assault on the victim.
Roy was arrested within 24 hours of the incident and was charged under sections 64, 66, and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertain to the punishments for murder and rape. During the 163-day trial, the CBI, which took over the investigation following a high court order, presented biological, scientific, and digital evidence, as well as testimonies from over 120 witnesses.
A crowd of junior doctors gathered outside the court following the verdict. They described it as a partial closure to the case, expressing suspicions about the involvement of additional individuals.
"The CBI failed to prove that this incident was among the rarest of rare cases. We will continue to demand action against others who were involved," said Ashfaqulla Naiya, a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital.
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