RG Kar rape-murder case: Court to pronounce quantum of sentence today

A special court in Kolkata, on Monday will pronounce the sentence for civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the case of ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The woman's body was found in the hospital premises in Kolkata in August 2024. The special court judge Anirban Das convicted Roy on January 18.

The proceedings of the special court will start on Monday at around noon and in the beginning, the judge will allow Roy as well as the victims of the parents to present their concluding statements on the matter. Thereafter the special court judge will pronounce the sentence in the case.

The judge, on January 18, had already made it clear that the maximum punishment in the case could be the “death penalty”, while the minimum punishment in the matter could be life imprisonment.

Although the process of sentence against Roy in the matter of the crime of rape and murder will be completed on Monday, the angle of investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as regards “tampering” and “altering” of evidence in the matter will be still alive.

The CBI, sources said, had already informed the special court that the scope for filing a supplementary charge sheet on the tampering of evidence angle is still open, which the case in this particular angle keeps pending.

Last year, the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal were granted “default bail” by the same special court, as the CBI failed to file the supplementary charge sheet against the duo within 90 days of their arrest.

Both Ghosh and Mondal were accused of misleading the probe and tampering with the evidence when the Kolkata Police was investigating initially. Later, the CBI took charge of the investigation on Calcutta High Court's order.

The body of the victim doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year. The initial investigation into the matter was started by a special investigation team of Kolkata Police, who arrested Roy. However, the CBI started an investigation five days after the date of the crime and thereafter Roy was handed over to the central agency officials by the city police.

The trial process in the matter started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was discovered. The conviction process was completed on January 18, which was 162 days from the date of the crime. Now, the sentence will be pronounced on Monday exactly 164 days from the date of the crime.