Sanjay Roy sentenced to life imprisonment till death in rape, murder of RG Kar hospital

A Kolkata court sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment till death on Monday after he was convicted of rape and murder of an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das in Sealdah had on Saturday held Roy guilty of the crime committed against the postgraduate trainee doctor at the hospital on August 9 last year, which sparked off unprecedented and prolonged nationwide protests.

Judge Das said the crime did not fall under the "rarest of the rare" category as justification for not giving death penalty to the convict. The court also directed the state to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the deceased doctor.

The sentence was passed after the judge heard the final statements of the convict and his counsels placed in self-defence as well as those of the victim’s family, and the CBI. Roy, a former civic volunteer with the Kolkata Police, was held guilty under Sections 64 (rape), 66 (punishment for causing death), and 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).