KOLKATA: Sanjay Roy (34), the sole accused in the RG Kar hospital rape-murder case was sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of half a lakh rupee by the Additional Sessions Court of Kolkata. However, the family of the victim feel that they have been served with a double blow. They are not happy with the verdict and are planning to approach the Supreme Court for justice.

“A doctor on duty was raped and killed inside a hospital. How can it not be the rarest of rare cases? Just take the brutality of the murder. The verdict is disappointing. It is suspected that there is a big conspiracy behind the crime. The fight for justice will continue” said the family members of the victim.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also stated not satisfied with the court verdict. Mamata also alleged that the case was deliberately handed over from the Bengal Police to the CBI. The doctors' association has also announced that it will appeal against the verdict.

Even during the verdict day, the accused reiterated that he was innocent and not involved in the murder. The doctor's parents were present in the court to hear the verdict. The accused pleaded his innocence and said that he was being framed. However, the judge said that Sanjay was proven guilty. The judge said that this was not the rarest of rare cases.

The court also said that the government should pay Rs 17 lakh as compensation to the doctor's family. However, the has refused it. The court also clarified that the safety of the girls is the responsibility of the state. While reading the verdict, the court said the guilt against the accused had been proven beyond doubt. The argument that the accused should be given the death penalty was rejected.

The naked body of the 31-year-old PG doctor was found in the seminar hall of the hospital on August 9 in 2024. The doctor was brutally raped and killed. This led to huge protests across the country. Sanjay Roy, the accused in the case and a civic volunteer of the Kolkata Police, was arrested by the police on August 10. The accused was caught during an investigation focused on part of the Bluetooth earphone found near the doctor's body and CCTV footage. Despite not being an employee, he regularly visited the hospital campus where the doctor worked.

Roy joined the Kolkata Police's Disaster Management Group as a volunteer in 2019. He later moved to the police welfare cell. He then moved to the police outpost at R G Kar Medical College Hospital. He used to collect money to get admission to the hospital.

The postmortem report said the doctor was strangled to death. The forceful strangulation caused the thyroid cartilage to break. The four-page report also said that the woman had deep wounds on her private parts due to his perverted sexual addiction and brutal torture of her genitals.