Kolkata’s Sealdah Court has sentenced Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, to life imprisonment until death. The sentence was handed down on Monday, January 20, with the court also imposing a ₹50,000 fine on the accused.
Judge Anirban Das of the Additional District and Sessions Court in Sealdah further directed the state to pay ₹17 lakh in compensation to the victim’s family. While the case attracted significant attention, Judge Das stated that the crime did not qualify as a “rarest of the rare” case, which would justify the death penalty.
Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, appeared in court amid tight security. During the sentencing, Roy denied the charges, claiming he was being “falsely implicated” and had not committed the rape or murder. “I have been tortured and made to sign whatever they wanted,” he told the court.
The defense lawyer argued that even in rare cases, there should be a possibility of reform, and the court needed to present evidence to show that Roy was beyond rehabilitation. However, the victim’s family lawyer called for the death penalty as the maximum punishment.
Roy was convicted under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or persistent vegetative state), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). According to these sections, punishment can range from 20 years to life imprisonment, or even the death penalty.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, prior to her departure for North Bengal, refrained from commenting on the case, noting that she had previously called for the death penalty but would defer to the court’s judgment. The victim’s parents, on their way to court, expressed trust in the judiciary, while the mother of the deceased doctor voiced disappointment over the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), questioning why other
