R G Kar Case: Polygraph tests of main accused scheduled for Aug 25

A polygraph test was conducted today on the five accused for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital earlier this month. The test for the main accused, Sanjay Roy, was scheduled for Aug 25.

A special court in Kolkata on Aug 23 allowed the CBI to conduct a polygraph test on Sanjay Roy. On Aug 22, the same court had approved the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) plea seeking to conduct the test on the controversial former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and five others in connection with the case.

Of these total seven persons, one is a close associate of Roy, a civic volunteer, while the remaining four are post-graduate medical students of R G Kar who were on duty at the hospital on the intervening night of Aug 8-9.

A polygraph is a device or procedure that is used to measure and record several physiological factors of a person accused of a crime. The test was first used by Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso in the 19th Century.

When subjected to the test, an accused is asked questions, based on which his or her blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity are monitored as these can vary when a person gives deceptive answers.

The procedure for getting court permission for a polygraph test is not simple. The court gives its nod in such cases only after the persons on whom the test will be conducted give their consent for the same.

Also, it is primarily a method adopted by investigating agencies to reach the truth, and its findings cannot be presented as evidence in the court of law.

(With inputs from a syndicated feed)

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