Kolkata Rape and Murder Case: Court Finds Accused Sanjay Roy Guilty, to Pronounce Punishment on Monday
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 18: The Additional District and Sessions Court, Sealdah, on Saturday pronounced the accused Sanjay Roy, a 33-year-old former civic police volunteer, guilty of committing rape and murder of the on-duty 31-year old postgraduate trainee doctor at the West Bengal government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, even as the accused kept pleading that he was “innocent” and was being “framed.”
The Judge Anirban Das pronounced the verdict in the presence of the accused as well as the parents of the victim in the court premises. The quantum of punishment, which could be hanging to death or life imprisonment, would be pronounced on Monday.
The semi-naked body of the 31-year-old doctor, who was on duty at the hospital on August 8 night, last year, was found on the third floor of the seminar hall of the Hospital the next morning. Roy was arrested by the Kolkata police the next day and handed him over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) when the central agency took over the investigation into the case at the behest of the Calcutta High Court.
The incident had sparked a massive nation-wide protest and had brought the medical services in West Bengal to a standstill and the resident doctors continued their agitation demanding justice for the victim for several months. The local media referred to her as ‘Abhaya’ (the fearless), on the lines of the 2012 Delhi rape case trial, in which the victim was named ‘Nirbhaya’.
In a 160-page judgment, the judge Anirban Das said he was convicting Sanjay Roy guilty under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that deal with rape, murder, and causing death. He said the court had found the accused guilty on the basis of evidence put forward by the CBI for which the highest punishment would be death and least would be life imprisonment.
The judge said the accused was being held guilty of Sections 64, 66, and 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The Judge informed Sanjay Roy that he had entered the hospital on August 9 and smothered the victim to death and committed sexual assault on her.
The court said it relied on forensic reports which pointed towards the involvement of Sanjay Roy, placing his DNA at the scene and on the person of the deceased doctor. The judge, while pronouncing the judgement, said, “And the way you throttled the victim, you can be given death or imprisonment.”
He said that BNS Section 64 has at least 10 years of imprisonment and Section 66 has 25 years or life imprisonment or a death sentence. “The quantum will be given on Monday. My observation by the evidence given by the CBI. You are sent to jail today,” said the judge. He added that all the evidence proves that Sanjay Roy was guilty of offences under Section 64 (Rape) and 103 (Murder).
The CBI filed a charge-sheet against Sanjay Roy on October 7. The CBI’s charge-sheet listed 11 pieces of evidence confirming his role in the crime, including CCTV footage that shows him entering and exiting the scene. “I have criticised some activities of the police and hospital authorities which came out in the evidence. Activities of the HoD, MSVP and Principal created some confusion and that has been criticised,” said judge Anirban Das while pronouncing the order.
After the judgment, the victim’s father broke down in the court and told the judge, “You have honoured the faith that I reposed in you.”
Brought to the crowded courtroom on Saturday afternoon amid tight security, Roy repeated his claim that he was being framed as his lawyers tried to calm him down. When he was being taken out, he claimed a certain “IPS” knew everything. The court said it would hear him on Monday when it hears the arguments on the punishments he would undergo.
The convict’s claim of innocence contradicts his initial confession to the crime. The CBI, which had taken over the probe from Kolkata Police amid concerns of destruction of evidence, too had found him guilty. Sanjay Roy was first arrested by Kolkata Police a day after the victim was found dead in the hospital’s seminar hall. They handed him to the CBI when they took over. Roy’s in-camera trial behind closed doors commenced on November 12 and concluded on January 9, during which 50 witnesses were examined and their statements recorded.
Evidence tampering claims followed as a mob vandalised the emergency department at the hospital when thousands of residents hit the streets to protest against the crime. The full order is yet to be uploaded, which is expected to throw some light on the evidence destruction claim.
Besides Roy, the medical college’s principal Sandip Ghosh and the former officer of the local police station, Abhijit Mondal, were arrested on charges of evidence tampering. Both later secured a “default bail” since CBI did not pursue the charges within the next 90 days.
During the hearing, Roy said he was being “framed.” “I haven’t done this. Why are those who did it being allowed to go?” the 33-year-old said, to which the judge said he would be given an opportunity to speak on Monday. Roy, currently held at Kolkata’s Presidency Jail, has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming he is being framed.
While investigators have alleged that he acted alone, the victim’s family have claimed that other persons might also have been involved in the crime. They have also filed an application before the court seeking further investigation into the case.
Despite the police denying permission to hold any gathering, a crowd had assembled outside the Sealdah Court complex where people waited eagerly for the judgement. The crowd which comprised of junior doctors said that they do not believe that Sanjay Roy is the only person responsible for the crime. The parents of the victim, who initially accused the West Bengal police of trying to hush up the crime had over the past few weeks expressed a lack of faith in the investigation by the CBI.
Sanjay Roy has a history of violence and abuse, according to his estranged family members and neighbours. Early investigations had shown that he was a civic police volunteer who enjoyed perks not available for his rank, possibly indicating the patronage of a senior officer or politician.
He had initially joined the Kolkata Police’s Disaster Management Group as a civic volunteer in 2019. But he is said to have used his “connections” to later join the Kolkata Police’s Welfare Cell. He was a contractual worker but lived in the Kolkata Police’s 4th Battalion housing complex, which is unprecedented for a civic volunteer.
Pictures have also surfaced online, showing Roy on an official Kolkata Police bike with a “police” sticker. Reports suggest that he used to get an allowance for five litres of government sponsored fuel per day for his bike. Both these amenities are only available for permanent police staff and not anyone of Roy’s designation. The bike was seized on August 12.
Roy was assigned to the police outpost near the R.G. Kar Hospital, which gave him easy access to the hospital premises and various departments. Further investigation revealed that he was part of the 14-member Police Welfare Board and his “dislike” of police officers could lead to their transfer.
“A civic volunteer is not police. They have no police authority. They work on ‘no-work, no-pay’ basis,” retired IPS officer Nazrul Islam had said. “Anybody who is a resident of Kolkata does not get accommodation, but Sanjay Roy got accommodation. He also got a bike and petrol. It is abnormal. This must have happened under the influence of some big leader or Kolkata Police officer,” he had said.
Among those who knew the accused from before his arrest, he was infamous for multiple acts of alleged violence and violent sexual tendencies. His sister, who is also employed in the police force, had told a local television channel that she had cut off all ties with Roy after her marriage. “He was a drunkard, he never stayed home. One day he told us he was leaving home for good, and since then we, his sisters, took care of our mother,” she said.
His sister also said he was argumentative and did not share anything about his life with his immediate family. “We have no knowledge of how he got the job of a civic volunteer. He did not tell us anything about how or when he got that job,” she had said.
Roy would also pick fights with his family if they asked him anything about his life, according to the sister. However, when they asked him about how he got his motorbike, he told his family that the bike was given to him from his workplace and was stamped with a Kolkata Police sticker. “We found out that he has been accused of this crime at a time when we have no relationship or contact with him whatsoever. He should be strongly punished if found guilty,” she had said.
Neighbours had recalled similar details about the accused. “We saw him come and go on his bike; he wouldn’t stay home. For the last eight months, he stopped coming home entirely,” a neighbour had recalled soon after his arrest in August. “His behaviour was terrible; he had no relationship with anyone in the locality.”
Grave allegations have also been levelled by Roy’s former mother-in-law. “I had a nasty relationship with him. He tortured my daughter. He assaulted her when she was three months pregnant, she lost the child,” she alleged. She said the marriage was harmonious for the first six months, after which the accused started abusing her daughter.
“In two years of marriage, he beat her again and again. He abused her when she was three months pregnant with their child. He triggered a miscarriage,” she said. His mother-in-law added that since then, she has taken care of her daughter’s health and bore her medical expenses until she passed away of an illness. “He was nowhere to be seen then. He couldn’t even sustain himself,” she said.
She added that her daughter was Roy’s second wife. “He told us that he divorced his first wife. The wedding went well, his family was present, and he had relatives who were employed in the police,” she said.
