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A Kolkata court has sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment until death after he was convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, rejecting demands for the death penalty saying it was not a “rarest of the rare” crime.
Additional District and Sessions Judge in Sealdah, Anirban Das, had on Saturday found Roy guilty of committing the crime against the postgraduate trainee doctor on August 9 last year. The heinous crime triggered nationwide outrage and prolonged protests in West Bengal.
The court also ordered Roy to pay a Rs 50,000 fine and directed the state government to pay compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.
According to ANI, Junior doctors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court on Monday demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case.
Speaking to ANI, a junior doctor asserted that they would approach the higher court with their demand. “We wanted a strict and exemplary punishment, this punishment is not enough. We will move to higher courts seeking a stricter judgement,” he said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty.
“I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court’s decision and I can’t say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back,” CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda
Meanwhile , The parents of the deceased woman medic in the RG Kar rape-murder case said they were not at all satisfied with the verdict of the court pronouncing life-term imprisonment until death, as well as the financial assistance, and would move to a higher court seeking justice.
They claimed that the investigation was done half-heartedly and several other culprits involved in the crime were shielded. “We are shocked. How can this not be the rarest of the rare case? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered while being on duty. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime,” the mother said.
Upon the announcement of the compensation, the father of the deceased doctor said they did not want any compensation. The father added that they would continue their fight until all the other culprits were brought to book.
