Kolkata: Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old female trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was sentenced to life in prison by a Kolkata court Monday.
Pronouncing the quantum of punishment, judge Anirban Das said that the case did not merit as “rarest of rare” and ruled out death penalty for the sole convict. Roy reportedly remained calm and composed as the judgment was read out in court.
“You have been found guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (causing injury resulting in death of rape victim, and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). You have to also pay a fine of Rs 50,000 each for committing the rape and murder. You can appeal against this order before the high court,” Das informed Roy in Bangla.
The 172-page judgment added, “The court must resist the temptation to bow to public pressure or emotional appeals, and instead focus on delivering a verdict that upholds the integrity of the legal system and serves the broader interests of justice.”
While the victim’s kin had hoped for a death sentence and the Central Bureau of Investigation team probing the case had argued for it, the court observed that it was “evident” that the case did not meet the “stringent criteria for being classified as ‘rarest of the rare’”.
The Supreme Court has consistently emphasised that death penalty should be used only in exceptional circumstances, where the collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it expects the holders of judicial power to inflict the penalty.
“Given these considerations, it would be inappropriate to accede to the prosecution’s request for the death penalty. While acknowledging the immense grief and suffering of the victim’s parents, for which no sentence can provide complete solace, the court’s duty is to pass a sentence that is proportionate, just and in accordance with established legal principles,” the court further said.
The forensic evidence
Judge Das relied on forensic evidence to convict Roy, while criticising and expressing shock at the manner in which the case was handled by Kolkata Police, which was tasked with the probe before the Calcutta High Court transferred it to CBI.
The autopsy of the victim had been conducted between 6.10 pm and 7.10 pm after sunset, and the procedure was recorded on camera, in line with the Centre’s guidelines that make videography mandatory to rule out any suspicion.
The multi-institutional medical board (MIMB) that was formed to aid the investigation had examined the videography of the inquest and postmortem, and deemed the findings of the autopsy correct. They did not find any contradictions between the inquest and postmortem reports, according to which the cause of death was manual strangulation associated with smothering.
The judge further noted that the victim had ordered dinner via Zomato, along with five junior doctors and interns, and eaten it in the seminar room while watching the Paris Olympics, according to witnesses who had shared the meal. “If the time of the last meal can be known, the approximate time of death can be made out indirectly. So, the time of death of the victim was within 12 am and 6 am on 9 August, or more particularly around 4.45-5-5.15 am on the same date,” Das said.
The quantity and digestive state of gastric contents found in the victim’s postmortem report helps the doctor ascertain the time of the death.
Further, the judge ruled out gangrape, saying that there was “forceful penetration” according to medical experts, who had stressed that there was insertion of an object which was hard and blunt, but had a smooth surface. The injuries found in the private part of the victim were caused by that forceful insertion.
“This evidence also suggests that the assault was done by a single person. On the basis of the discussion above, I am of the view that the victim was attacked by a single person, and the said person committed the smothering and throttling as well as penetrative sexual assault,” the judgment read.
The Kolkata Police had handed over 51 CCTV footage clips to CBI, which had led to the arrest of Roy within 24 hours of the crime, who had then admitted that he had gone to RG Kar Hospital on the intervening night of 8 and 9 August.
Roy had confessed to his movement in the chest department of the hospital, which was clearly visible in the CCTV footage. He could be seen entering the third floor of the emergency ward building with a helmet in his hand and bluetooth earphones hanging from his neck. However, when he came out, he had the helmet, but the earphones were not seen.
The timing of Sanjay’s entry and exit, according to the CCTV footage, also matched with the time of death of the victim as indicated in the postmortem report, and confirmed by the medical board. The CBI also checked Sanjay’s call record data and mobile location to further prove his presence at the hospital around the time when the crime was committed.
“From the inquest report, video footage of the inquest proceedings, the entire video footage of the postmortem proceedings, the photographs taken during the postmortem examination, the opinion of the autopsy team of RG Kar Hospital and the MIMB, and more particularly, the evidence of the CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory) Kolkata proves beyond the shadow of doubt the incident of brutal attack upon the victim,” the judgment read.
Additionally, the victim’s anal swab, vulvar mop and nipple swab were collected and sent for forensic analysis. Blood samples of the victim and Roy served as the base for the forensic experts for matching and generating the DNA structure of the two. The nipple swab of the victim showed a 100 percent match with the DNA profile of Roy.
During forensic examination, the jeans and shoe seized from Roy’s barrack, which had blood stains matching with the victim’s samples, also helped in implicating him for the heinous crime. The DNA profile of the short hair strands collected from the crime scene matched with Roy’s, while the long ones matched with the victim’s.
Even the injury marks found on Roy, when he was taken for the medico-legal examination after his arrest, the MIMB said, were “due to resistance from the victim”. The process was videographed at SSKM Hospital, where the doctor had noticed abrasions over Roy’s facial region, left thigh and fingers of left hand, which had been sustained 24-48 hours prior to the examination, which coincided with the time of the crime at RG Kar Hospital.
Lapses in the investigation procedure
Criticising the role of the police and hospital administration, the judge noted that the testimony of a sub inspector of Tala Police Station—under the jurisdiction of which RG Kar Hospital lies—was surprising, as it exposed how police stations handle cases indifferently and engage in illegal practices.
The police officer had confessed to recording false information and filling in the form for investigation of unnatural death after 11:30 pm, after the inquest and autopsy were completed. However, he did not reveal upon whose instruction this was done.
This had highlighted serious lapses in the procedure, raising concerns about the integrity of the investigation.
The judge also pointed out how Additional OC Rupali Mukherjee, a senior officer entrusted with the probe, had kept Roy’s mobile phone unattended at the Tala Police Station on 9 August.
“It is a fact that from the evidence it was not established that she had done it with any ulterior motive or that she had tampered with the data of the mobile of the accused. In a very peculiar manner by placing a very weak explanation, she stated that the mobile was returned to the accused and then at the time of his arrest, the same was seized from him… It is her good luck that the defence did not challenge her by placing some twisted questions, but she failed to lead the investigation properly,” the ruling read.
Judge Das said, “As the Commissioner of Police is the highest administrative authority of Kolkata Police, I think that this type of illegal/indifferent act by police personnel should be dealt with by him strictly…I think that proper training must be given to the officers.”
He also highlighted lapses in protocol during the postmortem, including the presence of other female bodies on the floor, failure to sterilise the tray on which the autopsy was conducted or the instruments that were used, how the swabs were collected for forensics without changing gloves and apron, and how the lack of proper infrastructure at RG Kar could have led to contamination of evidence collected at that stage.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: RG Kar case: Kolkata court finds Sanjay Roy guilty of rape, murder of 31-yr-old trainee doctor