RG Kar doctor rape-murder case: Main accused Sanjoy Roy found GUILTY, sentence hearing on Monday

A Sealdah court in Kolkata has found Sanjoy Roy, a civic police volunteer, guilty in the gruesome rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar hospital. Sanjay Roy was convicted under sections 64, 66 and 103 (1) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The sentencing hearing will take place on Monday.

At the hearing, accused Roy claimed his innocence and stated that he was not involved in the incident. However, court held Roy guilty of rape and murder of the trainee doctor. The court relied on forensic reports which pointed to the involvement of Roy in the incident, placing his DNA at the scene and on the person of the deceased doctor.

Sessions judge Anirban Das stated that the maximum possible sentence for Roy would be the death penalty, while the minimum possible sentence would be life imprisonment.

The body of the 31-year-old junior doctor was found in the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the hospital on August 9, 2024, a crime that shook the nation to the core. Her body had 16 external and nine internal injuries. The postmortem would later confirm death by manual strangulation following sexual assault.

The accused, a 28-year-old traffic police volunteer named Sanjay Roy, was arrested the next day, August 10, 2024.

The in-camera trial began on November 12 and the hearing in sole accused Sanjay Roy’s trial was concluded on January 9, during which 50 witnesses were examined.

RG Kar doctor rape & murder: A timeline of events

August 9, 2024: The body of the 31-year-old junior doctor was found in the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the hospital. Her body had 16 external and nine internal injuries. The postmortem would later confirm death by manual strangulation following sexual assault. The accused, a 28-year-old traffic police volunteer named Sanjay Roy, was arrested the next day, August 10, 2024.

August 12, 2024: Just two days after the body was discovered, the West Bengal government transferred the hospital’s Superintendent. But this administrative shuffle was far from enough to quell the growing outcry. The hospital’s principal, Sandip Ghosh, stepped down on August 12, following nationwide protests led by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), which brought elective medical services to a grinding halt.

The judgement will be delivered by Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge of the Sealdah court. This comes 57 days after the in-camera trial commenced on November 12.

August 13: The victim’s parents, along with others, filed a petition before the Calcutta High Court. They demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing distrust in the Kolkata Police. The High Court agreed, handing over the case to the CBI.

August 14: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) intervened, noting visible signs of struggle on the victim’s body. The Kolkata Police formally handed Sanjay Roy over to the CBI.

August 15: The nation celebrated its Independence Day, another form of protest emerged: ‘Reclaim the Night’ rallies, organized by women and activists, demanding justice and protection for women. At RG Kar Medical College, however, the protests turned violent. A mob vandalized the hospital and crime scene. Tensions flared further when the National Commission for Women (NCW) accused the authorities of security lapses and raised alarms that the crime site had undergone premature renovations.

August 17: The IMA announced a 24-hour nationwide strike in solidarity with the victim.

August 20: The Supreme Court itself weighed in, constituting a 10-member task force to address the safety of healthcare professionals. By the end of the month, the protests had spiralled into larger political movements. The Nabanna Abhijan march to the West Bengal secretariat turned into clashes between police and protestors, leading to a state-wide strike, called by the BJP on August 28.

September: The agency arrested Ghosh, accusing him of tampering with evidence. The officer-in-charge of the local Tala police station, Abhijit Mondal, was also detained for delaying the filing of the FIR.

November: The court formally charged Sanjay Roy only in November. Roy faced charges under India’s Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including rape and murder. 

December: The court granted bail to both Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mondal after the CBI failed to file its chargesheets within the statutory 90-day period. 

Also read: Court verdict today in Kolkata's RG Kar rape and murder case: A timeline of events