RG Kar case: Convict Sanjay Roy sentenced to life imprisonment

After over six months to the gruesome rape and murder of a 31-year-old female postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, a Kolkata court has pronounced life imprisonment for the convict Sanjay Roy.

The Sealdah court noted that the case was not in the 'rarest of the rare' category for a death penalty. Justice Anirban Das also directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of ₹17 lakh to the victim's parents.

With final statements of the convict and prosecutor in the case of RG Kar rape and murder of a woman doctor over at around 1.10 pm on Monday, the judge of the special court, Das, has pronounced the sentence at 2.45 pm.

Immediately after the final statement proceedings process was over, the judge directed that his courtroom be vacated immediately since he needed some time to pen the final order of sentence.

During the 40-minute hearing, the sole accused in the case Sanjay Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to the state police, continued to claim innocence.

He even claimed that he was beaten up and forced to sign a written statement.

On the other hand, the counsel of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that since Roy’s offence was among the “rarest of rare crimes”, and demanded that he should be accorded the highest punishment which is the “death penalty”.

Already on January 18, the day when Roy was convicted in the case, the judge of the special court had made it clear that the maximum punishment in the case could be the “death penalty”, while the minimum punishment in the matter could be “life imprisonment”.

The body of the victim doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within RG Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year.

The initial investigation into the matter was started by a special investigation team of Kolkata Police, who arrested Roy. However, the CBI started an investigation five days from the date of the crime following an order of the Calcutta High Court and thereafter Roy was handed over to the central agency officials by the city police.

The trial process in the matter started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was discovered.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)