Sanjay Roy leaves the court in police custody. This photo is from September 2024.
The Sealdah court has convicted the main accused, Sanjay Roy, in the rape and murder case of a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. Justice Anirban Das delivered the verdict at 2:30 p.m. and said the sentence would be announced on Monday (January 20).
The court delivered its verdict after 162 days. The incident of rape and murder took place on August 9, 2024 and the verdict was delivered on January 18, 2025. The CBI demanded death penalty for the accused Sanjay.
After the verdict, convict Sanjay said:
I was involved in this matter. I didn’t do this work. Those who did this were released. An IPS is included.
A trainee doctor was raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital on the night of August 8-9. The doctor’s body was found in the seminar room on the morning of August 9. Based on CCTV footage, police arrested a civic volunteer named Sanjay Roy on August 10.
CBI had reported the situation to the Supreme Court on December 10, 2024. During which it was informed that a regular hearing was held in the Sealdah Magistrate’s Court and 43 of the 81 witnesses were examined.
Here, before Saturday’s verdict, the victim’s father said that the court will decide the punishment of the accused, but we will continue to knock on the court doors until justice is served.
3 big things related to the decision
1. Basis for the decision: medico-legal report
The court based the sentence on the forensic report, which showed that Sanjay Roy was involved in the case. Sanjay’s DNA was also found at the incident site and on the body of the victim’s doctor. Roy was convicted under sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Indian Judicial Code Act.
2. The maximum penalty will be the death penalty
Justice Anirban Das said the maximum punishment in the case could be death. The minimum sentence would be life imprisonment.
3. The culprit Sanjay will get the chance to speak
After convict Sanjay said he was involved in the case, Justice Anirban Das said he would be given an opportunity to speak before sentencing.
4 complaints from the victim’s father before the verdict
Our lawyer and the CBI asked us not to go to court. CBI doesn’t do much. Someone is definitely involved in all of this. I know nothing about recent legal proceedings. CBI never called me anywhere, they came to our house once or twice, but whenever we asked them about the investigation, they always said the investigation was ongoing. My daughter had been bitten. marks on his neck, but no sample was taken. No concrete evidence was also found in the autopsy report. The DNA report indicates that 4 men and 2 women were present. We want everyone involved in this case to be punished.
A large number of police officers were deployed outside the Sealdah court before the verdict was announced.
3 reasons for delay in decision
First reason – 2 lawyers left the case
Two lawyers left the Sealdah court for the victim’s family’s case. For this reason, it happened that there was no lawyer to represent the victim’s family. The victim’s family first named advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya had played an important role in demanding a CBI probe in the Sealdah court as well as the High Court and the Supreme Court. The father of the trainee doctor had said, “We wanted Bhattacharya to argue our case in the High Court and the Sealdah court. We were looking for another lawyer for the Supreme Court. Bhattacharya did not like this and left our case to all the courts. However, sources said that due to Bhattacharya’s busy schedule, the victim’s family had to find a new lawyer. Bhattacharya had last represented the victim’s family on September 9. Since September, lawyer Vrinda Grover and her team have represented the victim’s family in all courts, including the Sealdah Court. On December 11, Vrinda Grover distanced herself from the affair. The victim’s father said: Vrinda Grover messaged me and told me she would not fight this case. A hearing was held in the Magistrate’s Court on December 12. That day, there was no lawyer to present our case. After Vrinda Grover left the case, the victim’s family appealed to doctors for help. The victim’s family has roped in lawyer Karuna Nandi to present their case. Today, his chamber lawyer Rajdeep Haldhar is arguing the case of the victim’s family in the Sealdah court.
Second reason: the case was handed over late to the CBI
After the August 9 incident, doctors at RG Kar Hospital and the victim’s family demanded a CBI probe into the matter, but Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not order a probe. Following the High Court order, the investigation was handed over to the High Court. the CBI on August 13. After this, the CBI started a new investigation, but 5 days had passed since the incident.
Third reason: CBI could not file chargesheet against other accused within 90 days.
Apart from accused Sanjay Roy, former medical college principal Sandeep Ghosh was also accused in this case, but the CBI could not file a charge sheet against Ghosh within 90 days due to which the Sealdah court granted bail to Ghosh in the case in December. 13. Gave. Apart from this, former Tala police station in-charge Abhijeet Mandal was also released on bail for not filing the charge sheet.
In the CCTV camera installed at the hospital, Sanjay Roy was seen entering the ward at 4:03 am on the morning of August 9. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. He held the helmet in his left hand.
Polygraph test of 10 accused
On August 25, the CBI, with the help of the central forensic team, conducted the polygraph test of Sanjay in the Presidential Jail in Kolkata. The police questioned him for approximately 3 hours. A polygraph test of 10 people, including Sanjay, was conducted. These included former RG Director Kar Sandeep Ghosh, ASI Anoop Dutta, 4 fellow doctors, a volunteer and two guards.
CBI had said: trainee doctor was not a victim of gang rape
The CBI filed a charge sheet in the Calcutta High Court on October 7, 2024, naming Sanjay, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, as the sole accused. The agency said the trainee doctor was not a victim of gang rape.
The chargesheet included statements of 100 witnesses, 12 polygraph test reports, CCTV footage, a forensic report, mobile call details and location. It was also said that the semen and blood sample found on the victim’s body matched that of the accused.
The short hair found at the crime scene also matched that of the accused after forensic investigation. Sanjay’s headphones and cell phone were connected via Bluetooth. This was also considered important evidence.
The parents said: the Sealdah court should be prevented from passing sentence.
The trainee doctor’s parents have expressed their displeasure over the CBI probe. He has also filed petitions in the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, which are monitoring the case. He appealed that the Sealdah Special Court should not be allowed to pass sentence in the case and that the entire matter be re-investigated.
Forensic report twist, no evidence of mattress fight On December 24, a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) report was released on the rape and murder case of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata. In which there were many sensational revelations. The 12-page report says no evidence was found in the seminar room that the victim was raped and then murdered there.
In the last lines of the 12th page of the report, it was written: “No evidence of conflict was found at the place where the body of the trainee doctor was found. No traces of any fight were found on the mattress on which the body lay.