KOLKATA: A sessions court in Kolkata Monday sentenced former traffic police volunteer Sanjay Roy (35) to jail for the remainder of his life for raping and murdering a 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Aug 9 last year, acknowledging that it resisted “the temptation to bow to public pressure or emotional appeals” and pronounce death as the case couldn’t be categorised as “rarest of rare”, report Rohit Khanna & Srishti Lakhotia.
Citing SC guidelines stating that capital punishment should be handed “only in exceptional circumstances where the community’s collective conscience is so shocked that it expects death”, Sealdah additional sessions judge Anirban Das’s 172-page order states, “We must rise above the primitive instinct of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a nail for a nail, or a life for a life.”
Only want justice: RG Kar victim’s kin on 17L payout
The order further states, “The court must focus on delivering a verdict that upholds the integrity of the legal system and serves the broader interests of justice…Considering the overall facts and circumstances, we hold this is not a case where the possibility of reformation is completely ruled out. It would be inappropriate to accede to the prosecution’s request for the death penalty. The court’s duty is to pass a sentence that is proportionate, just and in accordance with established legal principles.”
Acknowledging “the immense grief and suffering of the victim’s parents, for which no sentence can provide complete solace,” the court asked the state to pay Rs 17 lakh — Rs 7 lakh as compensation for rape and Rs 10 lakh for murder – to the victim’s kin. The junior doctor’s parents, who were present in the courtroom, stood up and told the judge they only wanted justice. The couple had previously turned down the state government’s offer of compensation.
Convict Roy, who was fined Rs 1 lakh, pleaded innocence again and claimed to be unaware of the contents of documents he was made to sign in police custody. He was convicted Saturday under sections 64 (rape), 66 (causing injury resulting in death of rape victim), and 103 (1) (murder) of the new penal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) after a 66-day trial.
Section 103(1) mandates the death penalty or life imprisonment; Section 66 provides for imprisonment of not less than 20 years, which may extend to life; and Section 64 recommends imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which may extend to a jail term spanning the remainder of the convict’s life.
“The convict’s act was barbaric and brutal. The gruesome acts were diabolical in conception and cruel in execution,” the verdict states.
“Roy attacked the victim and raped and then smothered and throttled her to death. The CCTV footage, Roy’s contradictory statements in court and the DNA reports all indicated he was the only perpetrator…I have no confusion that the seminar room, more particularly the dais, again more precisely the mattress on the dais was the scene of crime.”
The crime on campus had sparked spontaneous protests that spread from Kolkata to various parts of the country and even abroad. A 10-week junior doctors’ agitation ended on Oct 21 after meetings with CM Mamata Banerjee, who made a series of administrative changes and promised reforms in the health department to placate the protesters. Monday’s proceedings started at 12.30pm in courtroom number 210, with the CBI counsel pushing for the death penalty.
“She (the victim) was a meritorious student. It is not only a loss for the family but for (the entire) society, which has been shattered by the brutality (of the crime). People will lose confidence if Roy is not given death. A lot of girls go for higher education; people will lose confidence if they are not safe,” the prosecution said.
The victim’s parents, too, pleaded that the court pronounce capital punishment.
Roy, who was given a microphone to speak, declared, “I have been framed. I was tortured in custody. I was made to sign documents about which I have no idea.”
The judge stopped Roy at this point and said he wanted his opinion only on the maximum punishment he deserved. “I am here to judge the case based on the evidence placed before me. I feel that the prosecution’s charge is correct and that is why you have been convicted,” Judge Das observed.
