Kolkata RG Kar Doctor Case Verdict Highlights: BJP demands further investigation into larger conspiracy allegations by victim’s parents

It has been stunning to witness how a case of horrific sexual violence — and that is what the RG Kar hospital atrocity is — has been cast as an issue of healthcare workers’ safety. Even in the hallowed portals of the Supreme Court. Let us be clear — this is a case of yet another woman being brutalised in what has seemingly become a norm in India. That it has happened in a hospital gives it another layer of egregiousness, if that were even possible, because certain locales are meant to be shelters for all. So, while it is a workplace safety issue due to the crime’s location, this is essentially a case of sexual violence. Had it happened in a school, corporate office or government ministry, this would still be a case of sexual violence at its core, and not about the security of teachers, executives or government functionaries.

Let us also recall that violence often comes from within. In the last six months alone, women (a dental student, a nurse and a doctor) were at the receiving end of assault, rape and molestation in Rohtak, Moradabad and Rishikesh respectively. This is surely the case in other professions too, and as lawyers who write this, we must unsparingly look at our own ecosystem. In the RG Kar atrocity, it is still far from clear that the perpetrator was a patient, visitor, or an “outsider."

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Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday said he was unable to find any reason to be satisfied with the conviction in the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

A Kolkata court convicted prime accused Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, of raping and murdering the on-duty doctor at the state-run hospital, 162 days after the crime that sparked nationwide outrage and led to prolonged protests.

"I am unable to find any reason to be satisfied with this conviction. Maybe an investigation was carried out in this matter, there was a trial and the accused would be punished. But, when there was so much tampering of evidence, you have to understand that there were big names who were protected by the state government as well as by the police," Chowdhury said, as quoted by PTI.

Referring to the 1990 rape and murder of Hetal Parekh, in which accused Dhananjay Chatterjee was given the death penalty, Chowdhury said, "There could be a capital punishment for the convict in this case as well. Kolkata had seen capital punishment earlier when Dhananjay was hanged. But even after everything, I would say that I am not satisfied."

Sitting near the door to her home in Sambhunath Pandit Lane, some 6 km from the Sealdah court, Malati Roy had been waiting for the verdict in the R G Kar Hospital rape-murder case in which her son Sanjoy Roy was the accused.

Told that he had been found guilty by the court, Malati said, “I have three daughters, I understand their (the victim’s parents) pain. … Let him get any punishment he deserves. Even if the court says hang him, I will accept it.”

Roy’s sister Sabita, who lives down the lane, said, “What my brother has done is something unthinkable and horrific. My heart breaks saying this but he should get the ultimate punishment if he has done it. The victim was a woman like me, and a doctor.” Read More

Many Bengali film personalities, who have been at the forefront of R G Kar protests, on Saturday expressed disappointment that the CBI probe could not identify all those involved in the rape and murder of the junior doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata.

Actor-director Chaiti Ghosal, who had been closely involved with the R G Kar protests said, "The CBI probe which framed chargesheet against Roy holding him as the sole perpetrator in the ghastly incident. The Kolkata Police probe within 48 hours of the incident had also arrived at the same conclusion. These leave many queries, many riddles unanswered."

She added, "We have faith in our judicial system but I am not sure if the probe by the investigating agency was conducted thoroughly. We and thousands of people had descended on the road demanding justice for the victim and security for every woman in August and for subsequent months. That should not go in vain."

Actor Ushashi Chakraborty, another prominent face in the R G Kar movement for justice, said "Roy was certainly involved but he is just a pawn and there must be others who were also involved but not identified by the central investigating agency. They remain unscathed."

Actor and protesting doctor Kinjal Nanda said the movement for fair and wholesome justice for the deceased woman and her grief-stricken parents will continue till others are identified by the investigating agency.

(With inputs from PTI)

Doctors from various hospitals in Kolkata staged a protest rally here on Saturday expressing dissatisfaction with the conviction of prime accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case and demanded that the CBI bring to justice all those allegedly involved in the crime.

Junior and senior doctors from city-based state-run hospitals, including RG Kar Hospital, who took out a rally from outside the Sealdah court, said their protest would continue until the truth behind the crime was fully revealed.

"While Sanjay has been convicted, what about the other culprits? How could he have committed this crime alone? The CBI's probe was based on circumstantial evidence, but where is the place of occurrence? We still have unanswered questions," junior doctor Aniket Mahato said.

The agitating doctors also questioned why the central probe agency did not file any supplementary chargesheet.

"Where is the supplementary chargesheet? The CBI had said that they would file one quickly," another doctor Asfakullah Naiya asked.

The doctors raised 20 key questions about the case, which they claimed remain 'unanswered,' and pointed out that the crime scene had been tampered with.

"There is clear evidence of this. Also, what explains the presence of multiple semen samples on the victim's body? We will not rest until those responsible for tampering with evidence are punished," they said.

The doctors distributed leaflets, listing the 20 questions, to the public and urged them to support the protests.

(PTI)

Sanjoy Roy, the prime accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, was found guilty by a Sealdah court on Saturday.

Sessions court judge Anirban Das on Saturday delivered the judgment, 162 days after an on-duty PGT intern was found brutally raped and murdered on the hospital premises on August 9. The quantum of punishment will be delivered on Monday.

Roy was booked under section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (rape), section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state) and 103 (punishment for murder). He was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the 31-year-old doctor’s body was found inside the seminar room of the R G Kar Hospital. Read More

Senior TMC MP Sougata Roy on Saturday welcomed the conviction of Sanjay Roy in the rape and murder of the doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and called for the "harshest punishment" to set a precedent.

"The ruling must be followed by the harshest punishment possible for Roy," he said.

"This will not only serve as a warning to others who think they can get away with lawlessness but also restore people's faith in the system. We need to ensure that such actions are met with the strongest deterrent," he added, news agency PTI quoted as saying.

Welcoming the conviction of prime accused Sanjay Roy by a trial court here in the RG Kar Medical College rape-murder case, the mother of the junior doctor on Saturday said they were still waiting for the other criminals to be arrested and punished.

"That Sanjay is guilty was proved through biological evidence. And that he stood silent during the trials in the court also proved his hand in torturing and killing my daughter. But he was not alone, there are others who haven't been arrested yet. So, justice hasn't been delivered," the victim's mother said. She said she and her husband would continue their fight for justice till the last day of their lives.

"The case is not complete. It will only be completed after the others who were involved in killing our daughter are punished. We will wait for that day... Till that day, we will not be able to sleep. That is the only thing we want now," she said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday “welcomed” the Sessions court’s verdict declaring Sanjay Roy, prime accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, guilty of the crime, but called for further investigation into the larger conspiracy allegations raised by the victim’s parents.

“We welcome the judgment. But we would have been happier if the former principal of R G Kar hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and former Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal were also punished today. The allegations of a bigger conspiracy leveled by the parents and junior doctors must be looked into. It must be seen whether anyone else was also involved in the crime or not,” Adhikari said, as quoted by PTI.

Minutes after the prime accused, Sanjay Roy was found guilty in the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, his elder sister on Saturday said the family has no plan to challenge the order on its own in any court.

The middle-aged woman said she had not visited the Sealdah Courtroom where her brother was produced and the court pronounced him guilty.

"Please leave me alone. We are shattered," she said.

"If he has committed any crime, he should get proper punishment. We don't have any plan to challenge the order on our part. I am living in my in-laws house. I don't have any contact with my family since my marriage in 2007 while my mother is not well," she said.

The sister said her brother used to be like any normal boy during his childhood days.

"As he grew up, he turned to booze but apart from that I myself did not ever hear any case about Sanjay misbehaving with any woman. Of course, as we did not have regular contact with him in the past few years and he used to live in a separate locality I don't have any fair idea about his associations and whether he was involved in any criminal offence," she said.

(With inputs from PTI)

It was a crime that shook the nation to its core.

On an August morning, the body of a 31-year-old junior doctor was found in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

More than six months later, the country remains on edge, awaiting a verdict in the case as the sessions court in Sealdah, Kolkata, is poised to deliver its judgment.

However, the story leading up to this moment is as much about what happened after the crime as the crime itself. Read More

Over 300 police personnel stood guard outside the Sealdah court complex on Saturday as prime accused in the R G Kar rape and murder case Sanjay Roy was taken inside ahead of the verdict.

Justice Anirban Das, while delivering the judgment on CBI’s first chargesheet, 162 days after the on-duty PGT intern was found brutally raped and murdered in the hospital, found Sanjay Roy guilty. However, the court said that the quantum of punishment would be announced on Monday.

‘Hang Sanjay Roy’, ‘we want him hanged’ slogans rang in the air as people gathered outside the court. Read More

Pushed to the backfoot by an indefinite dharna and street protests by junior doctors over the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had unveiled a surprise move right up her street: on the afternoon of September 14, 2024, she had made a surprise appearance at the street-side makeshift tent where the protesters were sitting.

Suddenly the protesters were on the defensive as the CM had come after they had themselves refused a meeting with her, even returning from the doors of her residence and the Secretariat. Photographs had gone viral at the time of Banerjee waiting in an empty hall for them.

Four days after Banerjee came to their tent, the junior doctors agreed to a meeting with her. She ceded most of their demands, including removing Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and two top Health Department officials.

Read Ravik Bhattacharya's Political Pulse here

The judgment included details on the accused, the victim's profile, and the circumstances surrounding the case.

It specified the victim’s duty hours, the location where she was last seen alive, and where her body was found, along with the person who discovered it.

The cause and time of death were also outlined, along with whether there was any evidence of sexual assault or the nature of the assault—single or group. The place of occurrence, as well as the mobile tower location of the accused, were also highlighted. The judgment was based on these key points.

The Sessions Court in Sealdah Saturday pronounced accused Sanjay Roy “guilty” of rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The court will declare his sentence on Monday, Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said.

The judgement was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and 162 days after the crime was committed on August 9, 2024.

Roy was found guilty under Sections 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which governs rape, and Sections 66 and 103 (1) of the Act, which deals with punishments for death and murder. Section 103 (1) of BNS entails a maximum punishment of death or life imprisonment.

At the time of the verdict, Roy claimed in court that he was framed. The judge, however, said he would have an opportunity to speak on Monday before the sentence is pronounced, as reported by PTI.

Sanjoy Roy was taken to presidency jail in an 8-car convoy following the court's verdict.

While the Sealdah court judge pronounced prime accused Sanjay Roy as guilty, Roy repeatedly stated that he was "falsely implicated"

The judge said that Roy will be heard in court on Monday and is to be sent to jail today. To this, Roy said: "I have not done this, those who have done this why are they being let go. One IPS... I had said the whole thing."

The additional district and sessions judge continued to elaborate on the BNS sections and said: "And the way you throttled the victim, you can be given death or imprisonment."

He specified that BNS Section 64 is not less than 10 years and Section 66 is punishable by 25 years or life in prison while life or death sentence.

"The quantum will be given on Monday. My observation by the evidence given by the CBI . You are sent to jail today," he added

"You have been accused that on August 9 last year, you entered RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and you attacked the doctor and sexually assaulted her, and she died. Against all these Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) sections 64, 66 and sec 103(1) -- The crime is proved and so you are found guilty," the additional district and sessions judge Anirban Das said.

Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said the verdict will be pronounced behind closed doors as the safety and security of prime accused Sanjay Roy is "more important"

Roy was brought to court before the whole court room was cordoned off by the police, says reporter Bose.

Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, enters Sealdah court to deliver verdict

In the 45-page chargesheet submitted to the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court in Sealdah in October last year, the CBI is learnt to have said that the victim’s blood was found on accused Sanjay Roy’s jeans and shoes.

Also, his hair and a Bluetooth earpiece that synced with his cellphone were found from the crime scene – the seminar hall at RG Kar hospital – from where victim’s body was found on the morning of August 9, it states.

During the 66-day in-camera trial, the CBI counsel relied heavily on biological evidence — DNA samples, viscera and toxicology reports — apart from a layered voice analysis (LVA) to establish Roy as the single perpetrator of the crime.

It claimed that saliva swab samples and DNA samples on the victim's body had matched with that of Roy. The agency claimed the victim had put up a struggle and five blunt force injuries were found on Roy's body.

Roy also underwent a polygraph test at Kolkata’s Presidency central jail, where he has been lodged. Through the test, the CBI wanted to determine whether Roy was truthful in his statement regarding the case.

On Sealdah Court to announce the verdict of RG Kar rape-murder case today, Vinay Agrawal who is the Chairman of Indian Medical Association's Action Committee says: "Not only we, the entire country is eagerly waiting for the judgment. Justice should be done for our doctor. A lady doctor in a prominent medical college of a prominent state, the oldest medical college, was brutally raped, murdered brutally. And in the government premises, in the hospital premises, when she was on duty, it enraged the entire country, not only the medical profession. You have seen that the entire city was burning, Bengal was burning, and other states were burning. All medical colleges were shut down. Indian Medical Association also gave a call for this thing...Stringent punishment should be given to the accused..."

Parents of the R G Kar rape-murder victim enter the court ahead of the verdict, says our reporter Tanusree Bose who is bringing live updates from Kolkata.

This comes after the 31-year-old trainee doctor's father said this morning that they would not be going to the court today upon the request of their lawyers and the CBI.

In an interview to news agency ANI, he said: “Our lawyer and CBI have told us not to go to the court. I have no idea about the recent court proceedings…CBI never called me anywhere, they came to our residence once or twice but whenever we asked them about the investigation, they always said it was underway. There were bites on my daughter’s neck but a swab was not collected from there. In the post-mortem report, there was no concrete evidence. CBI is not trying much. There is someone involved in this…In the DNA report, it can be seen that 4 men and 2 women were present there. We want all the people involved in this to be punished…”

As accused Sanjay Roy was brought to the Sealdah court in Kolkata, the public around the premise were seen standing outside and sloganeering" "Hang Sanjoy Roy", "we want him hanged", etc.

Roy has been booked under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (rape), Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state) and 103 (1) (punishment for murder).

He was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the 31-year-old doctor’s body was found inside the seminar room of the RG Kar Hospital.

Ahead of the verdict expected from the Sealdah sessions court, Bangla Bachao Organisation are staging a protest outside demanding justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor who was raped and murdered in the state-run R G Kar Hospital in August last year.

In a video shared by news agency PTI, the volunteers of the association are seen carrying posters and sloganeering outside the court in Kolkata.

The parents of the victim had moved the Calcutta High Court in December last year. They were seeking a fresh investigation into the case and appealed to the court to order a fresh probe “soon”.

Their counsel told the court that they “do not have confidence” in the current investigation, being led by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Meanwhile, CBI’s lawyer Partho Sarathi Dutta, said: “The CBI has asked for the maximum punishment… The investigation is still on.”

Former NCW chief and Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Sharma says "those who have committed financial misconduct in this case are definitely involved in this case"

In December, a session court granted bail to former principal of RG Kar hospital, Sandip Ghosh, and former officer-in-charge of Tala police station Abhijit Mondal after the CBI failed to submit chargesheet against them within the mandatory 90-day period in connection with the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run hospital. Ghosh is on judicial remand in another case of alleged financial irregularities at the hospital.

"...I don't think only one person is involved in this case. The court will take action against those people and give them the harshest punishment...," Rekha added.

BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla, speaking to ANI, ahead of today's verdict says, "Justice will be done only when the victim's parents feel that all the criminals behind this act have been punished and not protected by Mamata Banerjee."

"The verdict will come today, but, the public and the protesting doctors will decide whether justice was served or not. It was their sense and feeling that more than one person was involved in the case. The way the evidence was destroyed, the way the TMC government tried to immediately protect and promote the Principal of the hospital, the attitude of the government and the police towards the victim... It seems that the priority of the TMC government was not to get justice for the victim but to save the rapist... Many leaders of the party used threatening words against the protesting doctor. One of their MPs also resigned saying that Mamata Banerjee's government has failed," he added.