North News
Kolkata, January 18
A 33-year-old civic police volunteer, Sanjay Roy, convicted for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital on Saturday. The Additional District and Sessions Court in Sealdah found Roy guilty under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that deal with rape, murder, and causing death. He will be sentenced on Monday. The crime occurred on August 9 while the victim, a 31-year-old junior doctor, was resting in the hospital’s seminar room. Roy was arrested on August 10 after CCTV footage and a Bluetooth device at the scene linked him to the crime. In its charge sheet, the CBI ruled out the possibility of a gang rape.
The Supreme Court had previously criticized the delay in registering the case. In a strong rebuke, it expressed concern over the Kolkata Police’s delayed response to the unnatural death of the doctor, who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College. The court noted that while the postmortem occurred between 6:10 PM and 7:10 PM on August 9, the case was only registered at 11:30 PM, calling this delay “extremely disturbing.”
The Supreme Court also questioned discrepancies in the police’s handling of the case, including conflicting statements to the victim’s family about the cause of death. Initially, the police suggested suicide, later revising their stance to murder. A friend of the victim, suspecting a cover-up, had insisted on videography, further complicating matters. The Court also addressed ongoing protests by doctors, urging them to resume work with the assurance that no punitive action would be taken upon their return.
