Bengal Govt Moves Calcutta HC To Seek Death Penalty For RG Kar Rape-Murder Convict

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday reportedly moved the Calcutta High Court to seek death penalty for Sanjay Roy, the convict who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the RG Kar rape and murder case.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta moved a division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak on behalf of the state government, reported India Today. According to reports, the matter has been allowed to be filed.

On Monday, the Sealdah court sentenced Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on him for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last year. While sentencing in the case, the court observed that it wasn’t the ‘rarest of the rare case.’

“I think this is not a case of rarest of the rare. That’s why I am giving you imprisonment till your death,” the judge had said. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said on Monday that thegovernment would seek capital punishment for Roy.

“I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now,” she had written in a post on X.

The trainee doctor’s body was found in a seminar hall at the hospital on August 9, 2024. The police arrested Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, the next day. Cops identified Roy through a Bluetooth earphone that was found near the victim’s body. He was also seen in CCTV footage. He was seen entering the seminar hall with the device around his neck in the CCTV footage.