Kolkata: A Kolkata court Saturday declared Sanjay Roy ‘guilty’ of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a heinous crime that sparked nationwide outrage and prolonged protests.
The Sealdah court, where Roy’s trial was held, will declare his sentence Monday, Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said.
The judgement was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and 162 days after the heinous crime was committed August 9, 2024.
Roy was found guilty under Sections 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which governs rape, and Sections 66 and 103 (1) of the Act, which deals with punishments for death and murder.
Section 103 (1) of BNS entails a possible punishment of death or life imprisonment.
The judge stated that Roy was found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and strangling her to death and that the CBI had proven all the charges against him.
Das said Roy’s statement will be heard at 12:30pm Monday, and the sentence will be pronounced thereafter.
At the time of the delivery of the verdict, Roy claimed in court that he was framed.
In his defense, Roy said, “I wear a rudraksh necklace, and if I had committed the crime, it would have snapped.”
After the judgement, police whisked away Roy from the courtroom to the Presidency Correctional Home under strict vigil, preventing the waiting media persons from attempting any kind of interaction with the convict.
The medic’s parents thanked the judge for the guilty verdict and said the court honoured the trust they had reposed in it.
In its chargesheet, the CBI had mentioned Roy, a civic volunteer with the city police, as the prime and sole suspect of committing the gruesome rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at the state-run hospital.
The Kolkata Police, which was investigating the case initially, arrested Roy August 10, a day after the medic’s body was recovered from the seminar room of the hospital.
The Calcutta High Court later transferred the case to the CBI, which had sought death penalty for the accused.
The in-camera trial in the rape and murder of the doctor commenced November 12, and 50 witnesses were examined.
Hearing of the trial concluded January 9.
The crime led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests by junior doctors in Kolkata, demanding justice for the victim and stronger security arrangements in state-run hospitals.
Members of civil society organisations in Kolkata and some other cities also held demonstrations over the ghastly incident, as they took out midnight rallies, calling those ‘Reclaim the Night’ to demand justice for the doctor, who was christened ‘Abhaya’ and ‘Tilottama’ by a section of people.
It also led to a political slugfest, with opposition parties, including the BJP and the CPI(M), attacking the Mamata Banerjee-led government over the law and order situation.
PTI
