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Informist, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The West Bengal government Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court seeking death penalty for Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer who was convicted Saturday in the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. On Monday, an additional district court at Sealdah in Kolkata had sentenced Roy to life imprisonment and rejected the Central Bureau of Investigation's plea for death penalty, saying it was not the rarest of rare cases.

 

After the verdict, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed dissatisfaction over the sentencing of Roy and had reiterated that the convict should have been given the death penalty. Further, she had slammed the CBI's probe into the incident and asserted that the state police would have ensured death penalty to the convict. 

 

"We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court's decision and I can't say much about this. For three other cases, state police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured death penalty long back," Banerjee had said on Monday.

 

She had also alleged that the case was deliberately taken away from the state police.

 

The additional district court had said this case called for a carefully considered and appropriate sentence that balances the gravity of the crime with the principles of justice, rehabilitation and the preservation of human dignity. It had also said that the court must consider the rights and circumstances of the accused, as well as the broader implications of its decisions. "The measure of a civilized society lies not in its ability to exact revenge, but in its capacity to reform, rehabilitate and ultimately to heal," the court had said.

 

The junior doctor was found dead at the seminar hall at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Aug. 9. Police had, thereafter, arrested Roy in connection with the case. The gruesome incident led to protests and strikes by doctors across several cities demanding justice. On Aug. 13, the Calcutta High Court had transferred the probe to the CBI. 

 

In October, the probe agency had filed a chargesheet against the prime accused under Sections 64, 66, 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. It had sought the harshest punishment for Roy, presenting evidence, including closed-circuit television camera footage, which indicated his presence near the crime scene.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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