RG Kar rape-murder case: Leaders, doctors criticise life imprisonment verdict for convict; call for “capital punishment”

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 20 (ANI): Leaders and doctors on Monday criticised the sentence of life imprisonment for the convict in the RG Kar rape-murder case by the Sealdah court, demanding a death penalty for this heinous crime.

The case involves the rape and murder of a trainee doctor whose body was found on August 9 in the hospital’s seminar room.

The Sealdah Civil and Criminal Court announced life imprisonment for the accused Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape and murder case. Along with this, the court has also fined Rs 50,000 to the accused.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed dissatisfaction over the court giving life imprisonment to the convict in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case and said if the case had been with Kolkata Police, they would have ensured a death penalty.

“I learned about the sentencing from the media. We have always demanded capital punishment and we continue to stand by it. However, this is the court’s decision and I can’t say much about this. For three other cases, Kolkata police ensured capital punishment through thorough investigations concluded within 54-60 days. This was a serious case. Had it been under our purview, we would have ensured the death penalty long back,” CM Mamata said while addressing the media at Malda.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose stressed that even a severe punishment does not end the crime in total and called for a robust and proactive policy to combat these atrocities.

In a video message, Bose said, “The court’s verdict is now loud and clear. That has to be respected in letter and spirit. This is not merely a question of crime and punishment. There is more to it. Punishment, no matter how severe doesn’t end the crime in total. The rising incidents of rape, assault and murder are alarming and reflect a deeper societal (sickness). It is imperative that we implement a robust and proactive policy to combat these atrocities.”

Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, calling for in-depth investigation into the case.

“We wanted the highest punishment (for the convict Sanjay Roy). Being an elected representative, I can’t say anything against the court verdict. The public of West Bengal does not believe that only one person is involved in the RG Kar rape-murder case. I think there should be more depth in this, as Sanjay is saying that there were also police and other people involved,” Majumdar said.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the common people of Bengal are disappointed with the verdict as it is not as per their expectations.

“The people of West Bengal expected the strictest punishment for the accused and others who are involved in this case. We saw that only one accused was punished, so this decision of the court is not as per the expectations of the common people. Judges give decisions based on evidence, whatever is presented to them, the decision will be based on that… but the common people of Bengal are disappointed,” Chowdhury told ANI.

Speaking to the media, TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said “We are not satisfied with the verdict of the court. The court gave death sentences in those cases which were under West Bengal police. The RG Kar case was under CBI, if it had been under the Kolkata Police, the punishment would have been the death penalty.”

Junior doctors held a protest outside the Sealdah Court, demanding stricter punishment for the convict Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case.

Speaking to ANI, a junior doctor asserted that they would approach the higher court with their demand.

“We wanted a strict and exemplary punishment, this punishment is not enough. We will move to higher courts seeking a stricter judgement,” he said.

Vinay Aggarwal, Chairman of the IMA Action Committee expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the entire nation was angered by the incident for not giving a death penalty to the culprit.

“The whole of the medical fraternity was angered by the incident. Bengal was boiling, the country was boiling…Not only the medical fraternity but the whole country is dissatisfied with not giving capital punishment to the culprit. Capital punishment should be given for these heinous crimes. You cannot ignore the statements of the culprit where he is saying that more people are involved in this…We demand the High Court that he should not be let aside with just life imprisonment instead of capital punishment,” the Chairman of the IMA Committee said.

FORDA General Secretary, Sarvesh Pandey told ANI, “FORDA spearheaded the entire movement against the RG Kar rape-murder case. The verdict that has come now is surprising. The medical community is totally dissatisfied with this verdict…”

He said that the verdict was “unacceptable’ and said their body of layers would study the verdict in detail.

“It should have been a capital punishment… This is not acceptable to us. Our lawyers are now looking into the basis on which the judge has given the order, so we are studying it and after studying it we will see what to do,” he added.

The victim’s father expressed deep dissatisfaction with the investigation conducted by the CBI and Kolkata police and said that they want justice, not compensation.

Speaking to ANI, the father of the trainee doctor said that the Kolkata Police have given them more pain than the passing away of their daughter.

“What the Court thinks as a good judgement based on the evidence produced by the CBI, the Court has given that verdict…We have a lot of questions on the investigation done by CBI…We did not go to the court for compensation. We want justice, not compensation…Kolkata police did wrong and the CBI will have to do something…The Kolkata police have given us more pain than the passing away of my daughter,” he said.