An Indian police volunteer has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata
An Indian court has sentenced a volunteer police officer to life in prison for raping and killing a medical practitioner who was attacked while on duty in Kolkata last August. a crime that sparked widespread protests across the country.
The trial, which began in November and was held behind closed doors, was quickly followed by massive protests, with many people taking to the streets to voice their anger at chronic violence against women in India, as well as the lack of security measures to keep female doctors safe.
During his sentencing in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal on Monday, Judge Anirban Das said that despite the horrific crime, it was not a “rare” incident that had shocked the whole community, so the death penalty was not appropriate for Sanjay Roy.
“You will be in prison until the last day of your life,” Das said as he convicted Roy of two counts of rape and murder.
Before the verdict was announced, Roy pleaded with the court to avoid the death penalty, repeating that he is innocent and believes he is being accused.
“Justice is still in progress”
Roy, 33, was working unofficially as a police volunteer at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a government teaching hospital, where the victim's body was found in the seminar hall on August 9. The 31-year-old doctor, whose name has not been mentioned. For legal reasons, he reportedly went to the hall to rest after a 36-hour shift.
Her body was half-naked and severely injured, an autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Roy was arrested the day after the victim was identified and formally charged last October, and federal investigators later determined he was arrested after being caught on surveillance cameras entering the seminar hall.
After the guilty verdict was confirmed Saturday, but sentencing was still pending, the victim's mother told reporters she believed Roy did not act alone, but “the others have not been arrested. So justice has not been served.”
The doctor's parents wept in the courtroom on Monday, saying they were stunned that their hope for the death penalty had been dashed.
“We are shocked by the verdict,” his father told Agence France-Presse. “We will continue our fight… no matter what, we will fight for justice.”
Crowds of protesters also gathered outside the court on Monday to express their displeasure at the verdict.
The victim's parents had earlier alleged that the West Bengal Police had tried to do this delay the investigation and falsify evidence.
The court also awarded 1,700,000 rupiah (about Cdn$28,500) to the family, although the victim's parents told the court they did not want the money. “I just want justice for our daughter, nothing else,” the father said.
The case was initially investigated by Calcutta police, but was later handed over to federal investigators after state officials were accused of mishandling it.
“I am … stunned, stunned and very emotional,” said Dr. Sayantani Ghosh Hazra, a resident at Kolkata's KPC Medical College and Hospital, in response to Monday's verdict.
“Justice is still pending,” he said, referring to his belief that more people were involved in the crime.
Hazra was heavily involved in the protests that followed the rape and murder, even fasting for 17 days in protest.
“Everyone is hungry for justice,” he said, until there is a full account of what happened that night.
Security concerns don't go away
Months after the attack, Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital is still covered with posters and graffiti condemning the rape and what many see as the authorities' reluctance to fully investigate the crime.
“We feel like we've lost our sister,” Dr. Asfaqullah Naya, a resident of the same hospital as the victim, told CBC News before the verdict, stressing the shock that the attack took place in a seminar hall where doctors are trained are “saving lives, not taking lives”.
Naya wanted Roy's sentence to set an example and “instill fear” in potential rapists to think “a thousand times” before assaulting a woman.
The brutal rape and murder prompted weeks of nationwide rallies and doctors' strikes, with thousands of women calling for justice and pushing back against victim-blaming in one protest called Reclaim the Night.
Rimjim Sinha, one of the organizers of that protest and subsequent rallies, said Monday's verdict must be coupled with real societal change for it to make any difference.
“Even the death penalty doesn't really ensure the eradication of rape culture in our society, no matter how many cases there are of criminals being executed by hanging,” said Sinha, an activist and researcher focused on women's rights in India.
Thousands of people rallied outside a hospital in Kolkata, India, calling for justice for a young female doctor who was raped and killed during a break from a long shift last month.
“Women are not even considered human,” he said. “We are considered to be property, or someone to keep as a trophy.”
Sinha said not much has changed culturally in India since the Delhi bus gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old student rocked the country in 2012. The incident led to tougher rape penalties and faster courts to deal with assault charges for
Others, like 22-year-old medical student Debasmita Das, are skeptical that a life sentence will lead to more adequate safety measures for female health workers.In the wake of the attack, India's Supreme Court has set up a national task force to look into strengthening security at public hospitals.
“How can a murder happen inside a hospital (while the victim was on duty)?” Das told CBC News.
“I will be doing an internship in three years, how will I feel safe?”
