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A Kolkata court will on Monday pronounce the quantum of punishment of Sanjay Roy, convicted of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The charges under which Roy has been convicted entail a minimum sentence of life imprisonment, while the maximum can be capital punishment.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das, Sealdah court, had on Saturday declared Roy guilty of rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at the hospital on August 9 last year.
The gruesome crime had led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests.
Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was arrested on August 10, 2024, a day after the 31-year-old medic’s body was found in the seminar room of the hospital.
Found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and throttling her to death, Roy was convicted on Saturday by the judge under Sections 64, 66 and 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Section 64 (rape) of the BNS entails a punishment of not less than 10 years and can go up to life term. Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) provides for punishment of not less than 20 years that may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean imprisonment for the remainder of that person’s natural life, or with death.
Section 103(1) (murder) of BNS provides for death penalty or imprisonment for life to a person convicted of the crime.
The judge said the over 160-page judgement, which will be completed after the pronouncement of the sentence on Monday, will also categorically answer some questions raised by the complainant, the father of the victim. Das said that he has, in the judgement, criticised some activities of the police authority as well as the hospital authority.
The investigation into the case was transferred from the Kolkata Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Calcutta High Court.
The judge said that Roy’s statement will be heard at 12:30 pm on Monday, and the sentence will be pronounced thereafter.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea filed by the mother of Atul Subhash, a Bengaluru-based engineer who died by suicide in 2024 alleging harassment by his wife, seeking his minor son’s custody.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Saish Chandra Sharma is likely to hear the plea by Anju Devi who has filed a habeas corpus petition, seeking the custody of her four-year-old grandson.
On January 7, the top court had denied her the minor’s custody saying she was “stranger to the child”.
Subhash, 34, who was found hanging at his house in Bengaluru’s Munnekolalu on December 9 last year, purportedly left behind lengthy messages, blaming his wife and in-laws for pushing him to take the extreme step.
The Punjab Civil Medical Services Association will resume suspension of services from Monday over non-fulfillment of their long-pending demands by the state government.
According to an official statement released by PCMSA, they were dissatisfied with the lack of progress on written, time-bound assurances given by the Punjab government.
Around 2,500 doctors of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) are set to resume their agitation from January 20, said PCMS president Dr Akhil Sarin. The PCMS Association (PCMSA) aims to push the government to fulfil its commitments to improve working conditions and resolve long-pending issues, including better security arrangements and recruitments.
In a statement, Sarin revealed that detailed proposals, prepared by the health department to address issues such as high attrition, low retention and recruitment challenges, have been submitted to the finance department.
– With PTI inputs
