The Sealdah Court, Kolkata on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy, the convict in the rape-murder case of a 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, to life imprisonment and held that the case was not in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category warranting a death penalty. Justice Anirban Das also held that the state government would have to pay Rs 17 lakh to the victim’s family.

 

The victim’s parents, who were in the courtroom, refused to accept the amount and with folded hands they said they wanted justice and not compensation. The judge replied that he has ordered the compensation as per law and they are free to use the money however they want.  He clarified that the family should not see this amount as a compensation for their daughter’s rape and murder. 

 

Roy has been convicted under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to rape and murder. The CBI, had taken over the investigation from Kolkata Police. The central agency had demanded death penalty for Roy, a civic volunteer and who had access to the hospital. Counsel representing the CBI and the victim’s parents said this was a “rarest of rare cases” and said Roy must be sentenced to death. Roy’s lawyer had cited Supreme Court guidelines on awarding death penalty. The judge then asked the counsel to list down the guidelines so that he could take a look at it.

The judge said the case did not fall under the rarest of rare category and sentenced him to life in jail. The court also fined him Rs 50,000.

 

Expressing dissatisfaction after the announcement of the verdict, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said the Kolkata Police  would have ensured death penalty for the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case, but the probe was taken away and handed over to the CBI.

 

A large number of police personnel guarded the Sealdah Court today. The elaborate police arrangements had been made to control the huge gathering outside the court to hear the outcome of the case that had created spontaneous movements, silent protests and candlelight processions in Kolkata and across the state and in many parts of the country demanding justice for the victim.

 

Roy was arrested on August 10 and had been in custody since then. The 31-year old postgraduate trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar hall of the Emergency building of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The post-mortem said the trainee doctor was raped and murdered. She was cremated the same night triggering allegations that the  cremation was held in hurry to avoid a chance of second post-mortem. 

 

Later, on August 14, thousands of women, children and men took to the streets on the eve of independence day demanding safety for women. They wanted ” Reclaim the Night” for justice.