The West Bengal government has approached the Calcutta High Court to contest a recent ruling that sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment for the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The state, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is pushing for the death penalty for Roy, expressing dissatisfaction with the court’s decision.
Roy was sentenced to life on Monday by Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das, who concluded that the crime did not meet the “rarest of the rare” threshold that would warrant capital punishment. In response to the verdict, Banerjee articulated her disappointment, stating that she had always advocated for a death sentence in such severe cases. She noted that the investigation was assigned to the CBI rather than the Kolkata Police, implying that had it remained with the latter, a different outcome might have been possible.
Following the government’s challenge to the verdict, the deceased doctor’s father criticized Banerjee, accusing her of tampering with the evidence in the case. He expressed frustration over the Chief Minister’s actions and their impact on the investigation.
Both parents of the victim have expressed their dissatisfaction with the court’s ruling, suggesting that the investigation was lackluster and that other individuals involved in the crime were being shielded from justice. The mother voiced her disbelief that the case did not qualify as “rarest of rare,” considering the nature of the crime.
This case has gained national attention, prompting the Supreme Court to take notice in August of the previous year amid widespread protests regarding the heinous act. The apex court raised several concerns about the handling of the case by West Bengal police, including delays in filing the First Information Report (FIR) and the failure to protect medical personnel from a mob attack following the incident.
