RG Kar Rape-Murder Victim’s Parents Refuse Compensation; Mamata Banerjee Says Kolkata Police Would Have Ensured Death Penalty

Kolkata: The Sealdah court on Monday sentenced civic volunteer Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment in the rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at the state-run R G Kar Medical College & Hospital in August last year.

Not many, including the victim’s parents, were satisfied with the punishment for one of the most brutal crimes committed on a doctor on duty.

Judge Anirban Das, who pronounced the sentence, also directed the West Bengal government to pay the victim’s family a compensation of Rs 17 lakh.

The grieving parents, however, refused the compensation.

“We were not wanting any compensation, we wanted justice for our daughter. What will we do with money,” the parents said.

The common demand was death penalty for the guilty, but the judge justified his ruling of lifetime jail sentence saying that this was not the rarest of rare cases.

The judge told the parents that he was aware they did not demand compensation.

“But going by law, as she was raped and murdered on duty, this compensation is being given. What you will do with it is up to you,” the judge said, according to a report in ABP Online.

Mamata Banerjee’s claim

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed Kolkata Police would have ensured death penalty for the convict.

Saying that she was not satisfied with the quantum of punishment, Mamata said, “The case was taken away from us. We had said that if we cannot do it, then hand it over to CBI. Because we want justice.”

“We demanded death penalty from Day 1. We demand it now too. But it’s (life imprisonment) the court’s order. I can share my party’s opinion. We ensured death penalty in three cases within 60 days. If the case stayed with us, we would have ensured death penalty long back. I don’t know the details yet,” she said shortly after the sentencing.