RG Kar suspect held guilty of rape, murder

A Kolkata court on Saturday held the main accused in the RG Kar Hospital case guilty of raping and murdering a doctor at the facility last year, in a gruesome crime that sparked nationwide outrage, protests, and strikes by medical practitioners.

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The Sealdah civil and criminal court held 31-year-old Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, guilty under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 64 (rape), 66 (causing injury resulting in death of rape victim), and 103 (1) (murder).

"You have been accused of attacking the victim in the RG Kar Hospital, throttling and strangulating her to death. You sexually assaulted her. Charges have been framed. On the basis of the statements of the witnesses and the documents produced in this matter, your guilt has been proved," additional district and sessions judge Anirban Das said while announcing the verdict.

The quantum of punishment will be announced on Monday. Section 103(1) provides for the death penalty or imprisonment for life; Section 66 provides for imprisonment of not less than 20 years, which may be extended to life; Section 64 entails a punishment of not less than 10 years and can go up to a life term.

Roy has consistently maintained that he was innocent and again told the court that he was not guilty. "I am innocent... I am being framed," he said. The victim's family said they want him to be given the death penalty so that people don't lose faith in the judiciary, while Roy's relatives said that they don't intend to challenge the verdict.

The body of the 31-year-old second-year postgraduate student, who was raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the hospital, was found on August 9. The crime took place at the third-floor seminar hall of the chest department late at night, and police later said that multiple lacerations and wounds were found on her body.