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This is an archive article published on August 14, 2024
Kolkata doctor’s rape-murder: Accused’s wife complained of assault twice, police took no action
According to his mother-in-law, had the police acted then, the 31-year-old doctor may not have met the fate she did.
Protest outside R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)
It was on May 13, 2023 that a complaint was lodged at Kalighat police station against Sanjay Roy, the man accused of raping and killing a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College. It was from his wife, who was three months pregnant at the time, and had alleged that Roy had assaulted her.
This was not the first time she had approached the police. On August 8, 2022, another complaint with similar allegations was filed against him.
Both times, there was no action against Roy who – in his capacity as a civic volunteer – worked alongside the police force. In fact, when the 35-year-old was arrested, he was at the barracks of 4th battalion of the Kolkata armed police.
According to his mother-in-law, had the police acted then, the 31-year-old doctor may not have met the fate she did.
Roy, who has studied until class 12, used to be a boxer, and joined the Kolkata police as a civic volunteer in 2019. Sources say he was part of the Disaster Management Force, and his clout grew when he became a central committee member of the Kolkata Police Welfare Board. He would also frequent the police outpost of R G Kar Medical College, sources say.
“Had he been arrested earlier, or lost his job or faced action, such an incident may have been averted,” said Durga Devi, his mother-in-law. Her daughter married Roy on February 19, 2022.
A perusal of the complaints filed by his wife on August 8, 2022 and May 13, 2023 show both had allegations of assault, and one had medical documents attached. After the last complaint, Durga Devi said she took her daughter home. Her daughter died of cancer on August 10, 2023.
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“He used to drink and beat up my daughter. He once assaulted her when she was three months pregnant. She lost the child. We got her married to him because he claimed he worked with the Kolkata police,” alleged Durga Devi.
At the tiny family home, Roy’s mother is in shock. “What can I say? He is my son. But if he has done such a thing, he should be punished. He would never tell me anything regarding his work. Most of the time, he was not home. My other three daughters are married,” said Malati Ray, Sanjay’s mother at their home.
One of his sisters told The Indian Express, “I married a man out of our caste, which made my family angry, so I don’t share good relations with them. But the news has shocked and shamed me. How could my brother do such a heinous crime? He should be punished,” she said.
Neighbors said he would flaunt his police connections and had even duped some people, promising them jobs as constables.
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Rabishankar Shaw, who runs a stall near his house, claimed he was swindled of Rs 2.2 lakh. “He would also help people get admitted to hospitals for a price,” he said.
Sources said that as part of his job, he was assigned the police outpost at R G Kar.
“He used to spend most of his time in R G Kar and sometimes went to the quarters of the fourth battalion of Kolkata armed police to sleep. Since he was part of the Welfare Association, he had a lot of freedom. He used a motorbike assigned by the police on his name and would get five litres of fuel every day,” said a police officer who knew him.
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