Hard labour with daily wage of Rs 105 – how RG Kar rape convict Sanjay Roy will spend time in jail
Roy is now allowed to walk and exercise inside his jail cell. He can also leave it as long as he remains in the cell block under the watchful eyes of special guards.
Sanjay Roy is in cell number 6 of the high-security Poila Baish cell block.
Sanjay Roy, the man convicted for raping and murdering a junior doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar medical college and hospital, will be made to undergo “hard labour” inside the Presidency central jail premises and get a daily wage of Rs 105, officials told The Indian Express.
The Sealdah court has sentenced him to life imprisonment, while the state government plans to move the Calcutta High Court seeking the death penalty.
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Roy is now allowed to walk and exercise inside his jail cell. He can also leave it as long as he remains in the cell block under the watchful eyes of special guards.
“He will have to undergo hard labour now since he is… no longer an undertrial prisoner. Since he is unskilled and has no prior experience in semi-skilled or skilled labour, he will be given a job with a daily wage of Rs 105,” said a senior jail department official.
“He may be given gardening work. It will be decided within a day or two. He will first learn and work as an apprentice. He will have to spend the rest of his life here,” the official said.
As part of a reform process, the convicts in Presidency central jail engage in hard labour such as gardening and making garments, furniture, puffed rice, and aluminium utensils.
Unskilled workers earn Rs 105, semi-skilled workers earn Rs 120, and skilled workers get Rs 135 as daily wages, which accumulates in a convict’s account in jail. This amount can be used to buy things from the jail, and if and when the convict is released, they take it with them.
Roy is in cell number 6 of the high-security Poila Baish cell block. His neighbours include former education minister Partha Chatterjee, an accused in the school jobs “scam”, and Aftab Ansari and Jamaluddin Naser, convicts in the American centre attack in Kolkata. Special guards are posted near Roy’s cell.
Jail officials stated that after the sentencing, Roy asked for three more blankets than the jail’s usual five per occupant.
Kolkata Police had arrested Roy on August 10, a day after the doctor was found dead. He was arrested from the barracks of a Kolkata armed police battalion. A former boxer, he became a civic volunteer in 2019.
Ravik Bhattacharya is a highly experienced and award-winning journalist currently serving as the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, Ravik possesses deep expertise across a wide range of critical subjects and geographical areas.
Experience & Authority
Current Role: Chief of Bureau, The Indian Express, Kolkata.
Expertise: Extensive reporting across West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, and the Andaman Nicobar Islands. Ravik specializes in politics, crime, major incidents and issues, and investigative stories, demonstrating a robust command of complex and sensitive subjects.
Experience: His long and distinguished career includes key reporting roles at several prestigious publications, including The Asian Age, The Statesman, The Telegraph, and The Hindustan Times. Ravik's current role marks his second stint with The Indian Express, having previously served as a Principal Correspondent in the Kolkata bureau from 2005 to 2010.
Major Award: Ravik's authority and quality of work are substantiated by his winning of the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for Political Reporting.
Education: His strong academic foundation includes a Bachelor's degree with English Honours from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University, and a PG Diploma in Mass Communication from Jadavpur University.
Ravik Bhattacharya's extensive tenure, specialized beat coverage, and notable award confirm his status as a trusted and authoritative voice in Indian journalism, particularly for stories emanating from Eastern India. ... Read More