January 21, 2025
NEW DELHI – A Kolkata court today sentenced police volunteer Sanjoy Roy to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Judge Anirban Das of Sealdah District Sessions Court delivered the verdict this afternoon, three days after finding him guilty of the crime, which triggered national outrage.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s federal investigative agency, described the crime as “rarest of rare” during the trial and had sought the death penalty for Sanjoy.
“We pray for the highest penalty to maintain people’s faith in society,” the CBI lawyer urged the court prior to the sentencing.
Last Friday, Sanjoy was found guilty of sexually assaulting and killing the doctor in August last year.
However, Judge Anirban ruled that the case did not meet the criteria for the ‘rarest of the rare’ category, leading to a life sentence rather than the death penalty.