On Monday, a trial Court in Kolkata sentenced convict Sanjay Roy to lifetime imprisonment for the August 2024 rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday moved the Calcutta high court seeking capital punishment for Sanjay Roy, who was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial Court in Kolkata on Monday in the August 2024 rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
“Advocate General Kishore Dutta brought up the matter before the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and said the state wanted to file an appeal seeking capital punishment. Justice Basak permitted the state to challenge the order the Sealdah Court passed on Monday,” a state government lawyer said, requesting anonymity.
Roy, 34, a civic volunteer who was working for Kolkata police at the time of the crime, was sentenced to jail for the rest of their life under sections 66 (rape), 64 (causing injury resulting in death), and 103 (1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge of the Sealdah court.
Minutes after the verdict, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the punishment had disappointed her.
“I cannot comment on the court, but I am not satisfied. The state government prayed for a death sentence from the very beginning. We were all expecting the death sentence,” Banerjee said. Later, on Monday evening, she wrote in a social media post that her government would move the High Court seeking a death sentence.
