Kolkata (West Bengal):

The parents of the victim in Kolkata’s RG Kar rape and murder have met West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, requesting the governor to take up their grievances with President Droupadi Murmu and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

“On 30.01.2025 the parents of the R.G.Kar Medical College and Hospital victim called on HG and submitted a representation. The parents narrated their grievances and pleaded for justice,” West Bengal Raj Bhavan Media Cell posted on X.

“They requested HG to take up their case with the Hon’ble President of India and the Hon’ble Union Home Minister to whom they have already submitted their representations. HG agreed to do the needful. HG assuaged their feelings and indicated that they were not alone in their grief and that humanity stands with them. Justice shall prevail. Officer on Special Duty.”

Meanwhile, the parents withdrew their plea before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking a fresh investigation into the incident.

The plea was filed by the victim’s parents as an Intervention Application (IA) in the suo motu case, which had been registered by the top court in August last year, a few days after the infamous incident took place.

When the case was heard on Thursday, a Bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar asked Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy whether the Court should proceed with the case, as a plea regarding similar issues had already been filed before the Calcutta High Court.

After considering the submissions made in the affidavit filed before it, the Court warned the senior counsel to be cautious with her arguments, as there is already a conviction against the sole accused (now convict) Sanjoy Roy in the case. The Court suggested that Nundy withdraw the plea and file a fresh one, noting that the original plea had been filed by the victim’s parents before the trial and conviction.

Following a brief exchange, the senior lawyer withdrew the plea, with the liberty to file a fresh one as per the Court’s order. On January 20, a Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court convicted and sentenced Sanjoy Roy to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of the victim in the RG Kar rape and murder case.

After the trial court’s decision, there has been an uproar, especially among doctors and medical workers, who are calling for Roy to be awarded the death penalty for his gruesome act. There are also calls for reinvestigation into the matter, as concerns have been raised regarding the manner in which the investigation was conducted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The parents of the woman doctor raped and killed at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last year, are not keen on the death penalty for the man held guilty, their lawyer has told the Calcutta High Court. They, however, refused to confirm it to reporters. 

The woman’s parents, however, demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sparking off a massive political row. 

The West Bengal government and the investigating agency – the Central Bureau of Investigation — have appealed for death sentence for the convict. The court will decide on whose petition it will proceed with. 

“The CBI is not working at all and this proved by the judgement copy of the Sealdah court. I can’t say more than this. Who will we go to? The state police let us down and now the CBI is letting us down. Whom do we go to? I leave it to the judge of the High Court to decide,” the woman’s father told reporters.

“The parents — we understand their sentiments. We have nothing to tell them. I remember once even Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that if my resignation is going to give her justice, that I am ready to do,” said Dr Shashi Panja, the state’s Women and Child Development Minister.

“But don’t we see a kind of a mahaul (environment) which the political parties in Opposition to us are trying to create. They are trying to get advantage of a rape and murder and it is so unfortunate,” the minister added.

Senior Trinamool leader and minister Firhad Hakim has alleged the parents are saying things dictated by political rivals and unfairly targeting the Chief Minister. 
 

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Wednesday the matter where it has taken suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

As per the causelist published on the website of the supreme court, a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan will resume hearing the suo moto case on January 22.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government on Tuesday approached the Calcutta High Court, challenging the verdict of a Kolkata special court awarding life imprisonment to Sanjay Roy, the sole accused and convict in the rape and murder case of the woman doctor.

A division bench of Justices Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi of the Calcutta High Court admitted the state government’s appeal seeking a death penalty for the convict.

A day before, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the Bengal government would move the Calcutta High Court challenging the quantum of the sentence and the state government would be seeking the death penalty for the convict.

“I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. We want to insist upon the death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

While pronouncing the quantum of the sentence, special court judge Anirban Das said that the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) contention that Roy’s offence in the matter was “the rarest and rare crimes” was not tenable. Hence, the judge observed that instead of the “death penalty”, Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to Kolkata Police, be sentenced to “life imprisonment”.

Apart from that a fine of Rs 50,000 was also imposed on Roy. The special court, at the same time, directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the victim. It observed that since the victim was raped and murdered at her workplace, which is a state-government entity, the West Bengal government is legally bound to pay compensation to the victim’s family.

In an earlier hearing held in November 2024, the Supreme Court had remarked that it would not pass any direction to transfer the trial of the ghastly rape and murder case outside West Bengal. A bench, headed by then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, turned down the oral prayer made by a lawyer seeking transfer of trial outside West Bengal.

“Yes, we have transferred cases (of gender violence) in Manipur. But we are not doing anything like that here,” it had remarked. The supreme court had noted that the trial will commence on November 11 at a special court in Kolkata after charges were framed against the “sole prime accused” in the case, Sanjay Roy.

The process of the framing of charges was completed on November 4, exactly 87 days after the body of the woman junior doctor was discovered at a seminar hall within the state-run R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9, 2024.

In October, the CBI filed its first charge sheet against Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with Kolkata Police, in the alleged rape and murder case. In the charge sheet, the CBI did not rule out the possibilities of a larger conspiracy behind the macabre crime that prompted alleged events of tampering and altering of evidence during the initial phase of the investigation which was carried out by Kolkata Police.

Besides Sanjay Roy, two others arrested by the CBI officials in the matter are RG Kar Medical College and Hospital’s former Principal, Sandip Ghosh, and the former SHO of Tala Police Station, Abhijit Mondal. RG Kar comes under the jurisdiction of Tala Police Station.

The main charges against Ghosh and Mondal are for misleading the investigation when the Kolkata Police were probing the matter before it was handed over to CBI by the Calcutta High Court. Both have been accused of tampering with evidence in the case.

Taking suo moto cognisance of the rape and murder case of the junior doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the Supreme Court had termed the incident “horrific,” which raises the “systemic issue of safety of doctors across the country”. “We are deeply concerned about the fact that there is an absence of safe conditions of work for young doctors across the country, particularly, public hospitals,” it had said.

The supreme court had ordered the formation of the NTF (National Task Force) to suggest measures for the security of medical professionals across the country, observing that the safety of doctors is the “highest national concern”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

The Mamata Banerjee government has challenged the trial court’s life imprisonment order against the RG Kar rape-murder case convict in the Calcutta High Court, demanding that he be given the death penalty.

Sanjay Roy, a former civic volunteer who worked for the city police, was found guilty and sentenced to life term yesterday by a Sessions Court, with the judge noting the case was not in the “rarest of rare” category for a death penalty.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta moved the high court’s division bench headed by Justice Debangshu Basak today seeking the death penalty for Roy. The high court has allowed the matter to be filed.

Ms Banerjee – whose government had come under fire for allegedly mishandling the case – expressed disappointment with the lower court’s order today, saying it is not the state’s job to protect criminals.

“When someone is a demon, can the society be human? Sometimes they get out after a few years. If someone commits a crime, should we forgive them? How does the judgment say it is not the ‘rarest of rare’ (case)? I say it is rare, sensitive, and heinous. If someone commits a crime and gets away, he will do it again. Our job is not to protect them,” said Ms Banerjee

She also said that the Bengal assembly had passed the Aparajita Bill “to protect the dignity of mothers and daughters”, but it is still lying with the Centre.

Read: Mamata Banerjee Seeks Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict, To Go To High Court

The RG Kar case sparked massive outrage last year after an on-duty trainee doctor was found dead on August 9. The case, initially probed by Kolkata Police, was transferred to the CBI after allegations of mishandling by the protesting doctors.

Roy was found guilty on Saturday under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita relating to rape and murder. On Monday, the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment.

During the final arguments, the convict pleaded he was framed, to which the court said the charges against him were proven.

Read: ‘Must Rise Above Eye For An Eye’: Why No Death Penalty For RG Kar Convict

In his 172-page judgment, Judge Anirban Das noted the crime was “particularly heinous”, but “arguments for ultimate punishment” must balance against the “principles of reformative justice and the sanctity of human life”.

Stating that the judiciary must ensure justice based on evidence and not public sentiment, he said the court must resist the temptation to bow to public pressure and emotional appeals.

“In the realm of modern justice, we must rise above the primitive instinct of ‘an eye for an eye’ or ‘a tooth for a tooth’ or ‘nail for a nail’ or ‘a life for a life’. Our duty is not to match brutality with brutality, but to elevate humanity through wisdom, compassion, and a deeper understanding of justice,” said Judge Das.

The judge also ordered financial assistance of Rs 17 lakh to be paid to the victim’s parents. But the grieving couple refused and said they want only justice.

Ms Banerjee had said the city cops would have ensured the death penalty in the case, but it was taken away from them.

“We ensured death penalty in three cases within 60 days. If the case stayed with us, we would have ensured death penalty long back. I am not satisfied. Had it been the death penalty, at least my heart would have been somewhat at peace,” Ms Banerjee said.

Later in the evening, she said in an online post that the case fell in the “rarest of rare” category that warrants the death penalty and asserted her government would plead in the high court.

Kolkata/New Delhi:

Expressing her disappointment that Sanjay Roy, the man convicted of raping and murdering a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, did not get the death penalty, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said her government will approach the High Court. 

Immediately after a Kolkata court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment till death on Monday, the Trinamool Congress chief – whose government came under fire for its alleged “mishandling” of the case and faced widespread protests, including from junior doctors – said the Kolkata Police would have ensured death penalty for him, but the investigation was taken away from the force and handed over to the CBI.

“We demanded death penalty from Day 1. We demand it now too. But it’s the court’s order. I can share my party’s opinion… we ensured death penalty in three cases within 60 days. If the case stayed with us, we would have ensured death penalty long back. I don’t know the details,” Ms Banerjee said.

In a post on X in the evening, Ms Banerjee expressed “shock” that the judgment held that the rape and murder did not fall in the category of “rarest of rare cases”. Asserting that the case warrants capital punishment, she said her government would “plead” for it at the High Court. 

“I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare case?!  We want and insist upon death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case.Recently, in last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded? (sic),” she wrote.

In the R.G. Kar junior doctor’s rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case!

I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare case which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement…

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) January 20, 2025

“I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now,” the chief minister added.

Kolkata:

The parents of the 34-year-old doctor raped and killed at RG Kar hospital in Kolkata last year said they do not want any financial assistance after a city court ordered a sum of Rs 17 lakh to be paid to the couple who lost their daughter in the chilling crime.

Sanjay Roy, a former civic police volunteer, was found guilty two days ago in the case that sparked nationwide outrage. He was sentenced to life imprisonment today with a local court observing that it was not the “rarest of rare” case – a doctrine that justifies the death penalty.

Judge Anirban Das, who presided over the trial and gave his judgment at the Sealdah court, also directed a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to be paid to the victim’s parents.

Read: RG Kar Case Convict Gets Life Term, Judge Says Case “Not Rarest Of Rare”

The victim’s parents, who attended the court session, told the judge they did not want compensation, but justice.

The judge replied he had already given the order, and they were free to use the money however they wanted. He asked them not to see it as compensation for the rape and murder, but as part of the legal provisions.

Earlier in the day, when the judge asked Roy for his view before pronouncing the order, Roy pleaded he was “framed” and pointed to the allegations of evidence tampering.

Judge Das, however, said the charges against him were proven during the trial and he had found him guilty based on the evidence produced before him.

The prosecution demanded the death penalty for the convict, arguing that it would restore the confidence of the society. But the court observed it did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category that attracts capital punishment.

The trainee doctor was found dead in the seminar room of the RG Kar hospital on August 9 last year. Initially probed by the city police, the case was handed over to the CBI amid concerns of evidence tampering.

Roy was arrested on August 10, and while he had admitted to the crime initially, he changed his stance later and claimed he was being made a scapegoat.

Kolkata:

The mother of Sanjay Roy, who was convicted for the rape and murder of the medic of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, on Sunday said if her son is guilty then he should get the punishment he deserves, even if it means hanging.

She said she will “cry alone” but will accept his punishment as destiny.

Initially reticent to speak to the media after the Sealdah court convicted Sanjay on January 18, Malati Roy the mother of Sanjay told reporters on Sunday morning that being a woman, and a mother of three daughters, “I can feel the anguish and pain of the mother of the woman medic who is like my daughter.”

“If the court decides to hang him to death, I don’t have any objection as his crime has been proved in the eye of the law, I will cry alone but accept it as a quirk of fate, something willed by destiny,” the 70-year-old-woman said standing on the doorstep of her shanty on Shambhunath Pandit Street, about 5 km away from the commotion and buzz at Sealdah Court the other day.

Asked if she had turned up during any of the court hearings or met Roy at the lockup, she replied “No. Why should I? Despite my failing health I would have tried to visit if the charges were found to be untrue.” Sanjay has three sisters and one of them died years back.

One of the elder sisters, who lives close to Malati’s home, at her in-law’s place, on Saturday said in case he is proven guilty, the law should take its own course punishing him and the family has no plan to challenge the order on its own in any court.

The middle-aged woman, her face partially covered in dupatta, told reporters at a shanty in the Bhawanipore area that she had not visited the Sealdah Court room where her brother was produced and the court pronounced him guilty.

“Please leave me alone. We are shattered,” she said when reporters continued to ask if she thought her brother was really guilty.

“But if he has committed any crime, he should get proper punishment. We don’t have any plan to challenge the order on our part. I am living in my in-laws house. I don’t have any contact with my family since my marriage in 2007 while my mother is not well,” she said.

The woman, who did not wish to divulge her identity or name, said her brother used to be like any normal boy during his childhood days.

“As he grew up, he turned to booze but apart from that I myself did not ever hear any case about Sanjay misbehaving with any woman. Of course as we did not have regular contact with him in the past few years and he used to live in a separate locality I don’t have any fair idea about his associations and whether he was involved in any criminal offence,” she said.

The woman, however, added “There are reports in media that Sanjay was not alone at the site of crime. So I would expect that investigations must have been thorough to find only one person’s involvement in such a crime. Had others been involved directly or indirectly that should also be investigated and they should be brought to book.” “Since Sanjay’s arrest, we were under the stigma and everyone from neighbours to relatives would point fingers at us saying we are Sanjay’s family. I hope we are clearing the air now,” the elder sister said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

Hours after a special court in Kolkata on Saturday found civic volunteer Sanjay Roy guilty of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the convict’s elder sister has made it clear that they will not challenge the verdict in any higher legal forum in the coming days.

The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced by the special court on Monday, where the maximum punishment can be the death penalty and the minimum punishment can be life imprisonment.

Whatever might be the sentence of Monday, the family members of the convict will not challenge the same at a higher legal forum, Sanjay Roy’s elder sister made it clear while speaking to the media persons on Saturday evening.

“We apologise to the members of the victim’s family. The law has found my brother guilty and he will be punished accordingly. I have nothing else to say. The administration will do what is right. What we desire really does not matter,” the victim’s elder sister claimed. She also said that she did not have much connection with her brother for quite some time.

“I was not aware of his present whereabouts much,” she said.

On Monday, before the sentence will be pronounced, the judge of the special court Anirban Das will separately hear the closing statements of both Sanjay Roy as well as the parents of the victim.

The trial process in the case started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was found in a seminar hall on August 9 last year. The conviction process was completed after 162 days from the date of the crime.

While the accused has been convicted in the rape and murder case, the angle of tampering evidence in the matter is still pending.

Kolkata:

Welcoming the conviction of prime accused Sanjay Roy by a trial court here in the RG Kar Medical College rape-murder case, the mother of the woman doctor on Saturday said they were still waiting for the other criminals to be arrested and punished.

“That Sanjay is guilty was proved through biological evidence. And that he stood silent during the trials in the court also proved his hand in torturing and killing my daughter. But he was not alone, there are others who haven’t been arrested yet. So, justice hasn’t been delivered,” the victim’s mother told PTI soon after the court convicted Roy.

She said she and her husband would continue their fight for justice till the last day of their lives.

“The case is not complete. It will only be completed after the others who were involved in killing our daughter are punished. We will wait for that day… Till that day, we will not be able to sleep. That is the only thing we want now,” she said.

The Sealdah court pronounced accused Roy “guilty” of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The court will declare his sentence on Monday, Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said.

The judgment was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and 162 days after the heinous crime was committed on August 9, 2024.

Sanjay Roy was found guilty under Sections 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that 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 maximum punishment of death or life imprisonment.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sanjay Roy, the prime accused in the gruesome rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar hospital, has been found guilty by a local court in Kolkata today. He will be sentenced on Monday.

Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was found guilty under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that deal with rape, murder, and causing death.

However, Roy claimed that he was not guilty and was “being framed”. As he was being taken out, Roy claimed a certain “IPS” (Indian Police Service) officer knew everything.

“I haven’t done this. Why are those who did it being allowed to go? I always wear a chain of rudraksh on my neck. If I committed the crime my chain would have been broken in place of occurrence. I can’t commit this crime,” he said.

Responding to him, the judge said he would have an opportunity to speak on Monday before the sentence is pronounced. “You will be heard on Monday. Now, I am sending you to judicial custody. Your punishment will be announced on Monday. I have fixed the time at 12:30 to hear. Then will announce the punishment,” Justice Das said.

The judgment was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and over 160 days after the heinous crime was committed on August 9.

On August 9, body of a trainee woman doctor was found in a semi-naked state in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Hospital. A day after the incident, the Kolkata Police arrested Roy after he was seen entering the building around the estimated time of the crime in a CCTV footage.