The Sealdah court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment on Monday for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in 2024. However, the victim&rsquo;s parents expressed shock and vowed to appeal.
Shock &amp; Dismay &ldquo;We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime,&rdquo; the mother said.
Not &lsquo;Rarest of the Rare&rsquo; Judge Anirban Das justified the life sentence, citing the defense&rsquo;s argument for reformation. Addressing the court, Roy&rsquo;s lawyer had earlier argued for scope for reformation. &ldquo;Even if it is &ldquo;rarest of the rare&rdquo; case, there should be scope for reformation. The court must justify why the convict is not worth reformation or rehabilitation. Evidence must be presented with reasons as to why the person is not worthy of reformation and should be completely eliminated from society,&rdquo; he had said.&nbsp;
Agreeing with the defense lawyer, Judge Das said, &ldquo;I think this is not a case of rarest of the rare. That&rsquo;s why I am giving imprisonment till death.&rdquo;
Refusal of Compensation
After the court pronounced the sentence and awarded ₹17 lakh compensation to the victim&rsquo;s family, her parents refused to accept the money . Judge Das had directed the West Bengal state government to pay the compensation to the family. However, the father declined saying, &ldquo;No, we do not want any money. We only seek justice.&rdquo;
Battling On Expressing dissatisfaction with the sentence, the victim&rsquo;s parents vowed to &lsquo;keep fighting&rsquo;. They also claimed that the investigation into the case was done &ldquo;half-heartedly&rdquo;. Hinting that several others involved in the crime were shielded, the victim&rsquo;s parents said they would move to the higher court and seek justice.
The initial investigation of the case was conducted by Kolkata police, before it was taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as per a Calcutta High Court order.
The Verdict The Sealdah court in Kolkata on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy to life in prison until death after he was convicted of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August last year. The court also directed the state to pay compensation of ₹17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.
Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita
According to the provisions made in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the maximum sentence for murder and rape that results in death of a person is the death penalty. However, the minimum punishment ranges from 20 years to life imprisonment.&nbsp;
Sections 64 (rape) lays down rigorous imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which may extend to life in prison, and imposition of a fine. However, since the victim was a staffer of the RG Kar Medical College &amp; Hospital and the crime occurred on hospital premises, sub-section 2 of Section 64 denotes special provision for imprisonment for the rest of the person&rsquo;s natural life, along with a minimum sentence of 10 years, and a fine.&nbsp;
Section 66 (causing injury resulting in death of rape victim) underlines a prison term of minimum 20 years, which may extend to life imprisonment for remainder of that person&rsquo;s natural life, or with death.&nbsp;
Section 103(1) provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment and also fine.
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Sanjay Roy, the man convicted in the RG Kar rape & murder case

Parents of RG Kar rape & murder victim express shock at life sentence, reject compensation

‘How is this crime not the rarest of rare?’

Parents of RG Kar rape & murder victim express shock at life sentence, reject compensation

January 20, 2025 | 19:20 IST