Life Sentence for Kolkata Hospital Rape and Murder

Life Sentence for Kolkata Hospital Rape and Murder


An Indian court on Monday sentenced to life in prison the man convicted of raping and murdering a trainee doctor in Kolkata, sparing him the death penalty in a case that was a chilling example of how the country remains unsafe for women.

The killing in August led to months of protests and political turmoil in the state of West Bengal, of which Kolkata, formerly Calcutta, is the capital.

India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, its equivalent of the F.B.I., had asked the court to hand down a death penalty for Sanjay Roy, the perpetrator. So had the victim’s family, and the powerful chief minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee.

But the court ruled that Mr. Roy’s crimes did not meet the “rarest of the rare” standard used to justify executing those convicted of capital offenses.

Rekha Sharma, a former chief of the National Commission for Women and a member of Parliament, told an Indian news agency that “the victim’s family and all of us are really sad” that Mr. Roy avoided the death penalty. A member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, she blamed the sentence on shortcomings of the Kolkata Police, who answer to Ms. Banerjee.

Before the sentencing, Mr. Roy, who had served as a volunteer with the Kolkata Police, said he was not guilty. “I haven’t done this. I have been framed,” he told the court on Monday. Months ago, he had said that the written confessions he gave to police were obtained by force.

Details about the crime were murky for several days after the body of the 31-year-old victim was found in a seminar hall at a university hospital in Kolkata. They were also horrific, in a way that recalled a notorious case of rape and murder in New Delhi in December 2012 that also led to mass protests and, eventually, to four hangings.

In the Kolkata case, the junior doctor had gone to sleep on a mattress she had placed on the floor in the early hours of Aug. 9, after a grueling hospital shift. After her body was discovered, the authorities said she had been raped and strangled. Police arrested Mr. Roy after he was identified in CCTV footage entering the building before the attack and wearing headphones that were found at the crime scene.

The public reaction was extraordinary, and escalated over the next few months. Thousands of doctors across the city went on strike to demand safer working conditions. They were joined by many thousands of Indians, incensed at what they regarded as callous treatment of the victim’s family and efforts at a cover-up.

“People are convinced that this was connected with wholesale corruption in the medical college,” said Jawhar Sircar, a former civil servant who joined Ms. Banerjee’s political party but resigned in September over what he said was graft under her rule, and the role that it seemed to play in the Kolkata hospital rape and murder case.

A spokesperson for Ms. Banerjee, one of Mr. Modi’s most vocal rivals, greeted the sentencing by posting on social media that the politician and the Kolkata police had been vindicated by the verdict. But many protesters, Mr. Sircar added, had taken to the streets to rally against what they perceived as corruption under her long stint as chief minister of West Bengal.

And now, after the sentencing, the widespread feeling, Mr. Sircar said, was that “by selecting this guy, and punishing him, only partial justice has been done.”



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Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for raping and murdering trainee doctor | India

Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for raping and murdering trainee doctor | India


An Indian police volunteer has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in Kolkata, a crime that sparked nationwide protests and widespread hospital strikes last year.

The court rejected demands for the death penalty, saying it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime.

The woman’s body was found in a classroom at the state-run RG Kar medical college and hospital on 9 August. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals.

Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday, who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against him. Roy had claimed he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.

The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty.

“I do not consider it as a rarest-of-rare crime,” Das said as he sentenced Roy to life in jail on both the counts of rape and murder on Monday. “Life imprisonment, meaning imprisonment until death.”

The judge said he had come to the conclusion it was not a rarest-of-rare crime after considering all the evidence and the circumstances linked to it. He said Roy could appeal to a higher court.

The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom on Monday as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings. The fast-tracked trial had not been open to the public.

The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex.

The rape and murder of the student sparked state-wide protests and strikes by medical students and doctors. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA

The parents had said earlier they were not satisfied with the investigation and suspected more people were involved in the crime. Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, told Reuters on Monday that they had sought the death penalty for Roy and also demanded that those involved in what they called the “larger conspiracy” be brought to justice.

Protesting doctors had said that demonstrations would continue until justice was done.

India’s federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 were examined during the fast-tracked trial that began in November.

Police have also charged the officer heading the local police station and the head of the college at the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with evidence.



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Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for rape, murder of Kolkata junior doctor

Indian police volunteer gets life sentence for rape, murder of Kolkata junior doctor



Kolkata, India
Reuters
 — 

An Indian court awarded a life sentence on Monday to a police volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in the eastern city of Kolkata, rejecting demands for the death penalty and saying it was not a rare crime.

The woman’s body was found in a classroom at the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals, as the crime sparked national outrage over a lack of safety for women.

Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday, who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against Roy.

Roy said he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.

The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty.

“I do not consider it as a rarest-of-rare crime,” judge Das said and sentenced Roy to life in jail on both the counts of rape and murder. “Life imprisonment, meaning imprisonment until death.”

The judge said that he had come to the conclusion that it was not a rarest-of-rare crime after considering all the evidence and the circumstances linked to it. He said Roy could go in appeal to a higher court.

The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings on Monday. The speedy trial in the court was not open to the public.

The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex.

The parents had earlier said that they were not satisfied with the probe and suspected more people were involved in the crime.

Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, told Reuters on Monday that they had sought the death penalty for Roy and also demanded that those involved in what they called the “larger conspiracy” be brought to book.

Protesting doctors had said that street protests would continue until justice was done.

India’s federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 were examined during the fast-tracked trial that began in November.

Police had also charged the officer heading the local police station and the head of the college at the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with evidence.



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