Scene outside Sealdah Court where the verdict in R. G. Kar rape and murder was pronounced
| Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri
The Additional District and Sessions Court, Sealdah on (January 18, 2025) held accused Sanjay Roy “guilty” of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Judge Anirban Das pronounced the verdict in the presence of the accused. The parents of the victim were also present in the court premises. The term of the sentence will be pronounced on Monday (January 20).
Also read: Follow Kolkata doctor rape and murder case hearing LIVE updates
The Court said that it finds the accused guilty on the basis of evidence put forward by the Central Bureau of India (CBI) for which the highest punishment will be death and least will be life imprisonment. The judge said the accused is being held guilty of Sections 64, 66, and 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyay Samhita. The Judge informed Sanjay Roy that he had entered the hospital on August 9 and smothered the victim to death and committed sexual assault on her.
The CBI filed a chargesheet against Sanjay Roy, a civic police volunteer, on October 7. The victim’s body was recovered from a seminar room in a hospital on August 9. Roy, who had been arrested by the Kolkata Police before the case was transferred to the CBI, is accused of involvement in the crime. The CBI’s chargesheet listed 11 pieces of evidence confirming his role in the crime, including CCTV footage that shows him entering and exiting the scene.
Sanjay Roy pleaded his innocence when the verdict was read out in the court. “I did not do this, sir. The ones who have done this, why are they not being held?,” he told the court. The Judge said that Roy would get a chance to speak on Monday before the sentencing.
The parents of the deceased doctor broke down after the verdict was pronounced. “You have lived up to the faith we had placed in you,” the victim’s father told the judge.
Despite the police denying permission to hold any gathering, a crowd had assembled outside the Sealdah Court complex where people waited eagerly for the judgement. The crowd which comprised of junior doctors said that they do not believe that Sanjay Roy is the only person responsible for the crime.
The gruesome crime that came to the fore on August 9 triggered widespread protests in Kolkata and the rest of the State with people hitting the streets for months after the incident.
The parents of the victim, who initially accused the West Bengal police of trying to hush up the crime had over the past few weeks expressed a lack of faith in the investigation by the CBI. The former principal of the R. G. Kar MCH Sandip Ghosh and the ex-officer in-charge of Tala Police station for tampering with the evidence and delay in registration of the FIR.
Published – January 18, 2025 03:26 pm IST
