India’s Kolkata A police volunteer who was found guilty of raping and killing a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in the eastern city of Kolkata was given a life sentence by an Indian court on Monday, rejecting calls for the death penalty on the grounds that the act was not uncommon.
On August 9, the woman’s body was discovered in a classroom at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, which is run by the state. As the crime sparked widespread indignation about women’s lack of protection, other doctors took weeks off work to demand justice for her and improved security at public hospitals.
Judge Anirban Das found police volunteer Sanjay Roy guilty on Saturday, stating that the charges against Roy were supported by circumstantial evidence.
Roy requested pardon, claiming he was innocent and had been set up.
According to the federal police who looked into the case, Roy should have been executed because the offense fell into the rarest-of-rare category.
Judge Das, who gave Roy a life sentence on both the rape and murder charges, stated, “I do not consider it to be a rarest-of-rare crime.” Life in prison, which entails incarceration till death.
The judge stated that after taking into account all of the available information and the circumstances surrounding it, he had concluded that the offense was not extremely unusual. Roy could file an appeal with a higher court, he said.
The judge permitted the public to observe proceedings on Monday, and the sentence was announced in front of a crowded courtroom. The public was not allowed to watch the court’s rapid trial.
Those in attendance on Monday included the junior doctor’s parents. Dozens of police officers were stationed at the court complex as part of an increased security measure.
The parents had previously expressed their dissatisfaction with the inquiry and their suspicion that there were additional individuals engaged in the crime.
Amartya Dey, their attorney, told Reuters on Monday that they had urged that Roy be executed and that those responsible for what they described as the greater scheme be held accountable.
Doctors who were protesting had declared that they would not stop until justice was served.
51 of the 128 witnesses that India’s federal police mentioned during their investigation were questioned during the accelerated trial that started in November.
Police also accused the head of the college at the time of the incident and the officer in charge of the local police station of destroying the crime scene and tampering with the evidence.