The Court Postponed the Crime of Murder for the Defendants of the RG Kar Case; Trial Starts on November 11

Last Update:04 November 2024 23:23 IST

Sanjay Roy was arrested by Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the body of the woman doctor on duty was found in the seminar room of RG Kar hospital.

Kolkata doctor rape-murder accused Sanjay Roy | Image/File

Almost three months after a postgraduate doctor from Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital was found dead, the Sealdah court on Monday filed murder charges against the accused Sanjay Roy.

Roy was booked under Section 103(1) (punishment for murder), Section 64 (punishment for rape) and Section 66 (punishment for causing death or causing persistent vegetative state) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The court announced that the daily hearing of the case will begin on November 11.

“I didn’t do anything. I was set up in this rape-murder case. Nobody listens to me. “The government is conspiring against me and threatening me not to open my mouth,” Roy told reporters as he was being led out of the Sealdah court.

Roy was arrested by Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the body of the woman doctor on duty was found in the seminar room of RG Kar hospital. Later, the CBI started the investigation into the case on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

Senior West Bengal Congress Adhir Chowdhury said Roy’s allegations should be taken seriously and investigated.

“Such allegations by an accused should not be ignored and no investigation should be called for. We say that it is not possible for such a crime to be committed by a single person. This is a collective crime. We don’t know whether CBI and Kolkata Police have reached an agreement or not. “We are skeptical,” he said.

Former state Congress president Chowdhury said the role of police should also be investigated.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its chargesheet filed last month, described Roy as the “sole prime accused” in the case and noted a potential “larger conspiracy” behind the crime.

Abhijit Mondal, former director of RG Kar Hospital and suspended officer-in-charge of Talah Police Station, who was referred to the courthouse, was kept under judicial custody until November 18.

The lawyer of the arrested duo requested bail, arguing that if the CBI did not mention their names in the indictment, they could not be described as “defendants”.

The CBI opposed the bail plea, stating that the matter was being investigated and that the duo might have been involved in a “larger conspiracy” and abetting the crime.

On August 23, the Kolkata High Court decided to transfer the investigation from the state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the CBI into allegations of financial irregularities during the tenure of Sandip Ghosh, former director of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. gave. Ghosh was arrested in the case.

Rise in Crimes Against Women in Bengal

Opposition parties in the state have expressed disappointment over the law and order of affairs in West Bengal and rising crimes against women.

“The heaping of brutality on women is a sad reality of contemporary Bengal. This is something that the entire society must resist strongly and effectively and we will do so,” Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said on Monday.

Crimes against women have continued to rise in West Bengal despite public protests and increased attention from law enforcement following the RG Kar case.

Most of the cases involve accused persons who were found to be under the influence of alcohol, with the highest number of cases reported from North Bengal.

On October 22, a minor was allegedly raped and murdered in Alipurduar. Last week, it was reported that another 6-year-old child was raped and killed in the same district. In this case, the defendant was beaten to death by local residents.

Last week, another 9-year-old girl was attacked in the same district. All the victims in these cases are minors and in Falakata, Jaigaon and Kumargram, the accused were drunk at the time of the crimes and had a history of alcoholism.

The number of incidents increased not only in Alipurduar but also in other districts. Last week, a woman in Nadia was attacked and allegedly raped by eight men while returning home with her husband. The gang that attacked her was reportedly drunk and gambling in Nadia’s town of Kalyani.

The opposition attributed these incidents entirely to the state government and the ruling party TMC.

“We expected such incidents to decrease after the RG Kar case, but the Mamata Banerjee government has failed to ensure the safety of women and should resign,” said Manoj Tigga, BJP’s Alipurduar MP.

“Are we sick? This question arises in the case of rape and murder of children aged 5 to 6 years. Social scientists can analyze what is happening but it is clear that there is lawlessness in Bengal. The Kamduni rape case was a heinous crime, but the way it was presented in court weakened the case and left the victim’s family “Criminals believe that nothing will happen to them, so crimes against women are increasing,” BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya told CNN-News18.

The ruling party stated that this is a social problem that exists throughout India. TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said: “This incident has been strictly handled by the police, but this is a social problem that exists in India. We must all fight against it together.”

“First of all, the systematic degradation of law and order and the maintenance of law are of course the reason, but another important reason is alcoholism and unemployment. People living mostly in villages have no jobs and the Government’s excise policy allows liquor shops everywhere. This undermines women’s safety. The government gets a lot of revenue but alcoholism is a big factor. There is also a lack of exemplary punishment, political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty told CNN-News18.

Exemplary punishment is very important in deterring criminals from committing such crimes.

Although the Bengal Assembly has passed a law providing harsh punishment for rape, implementation of this law remains a distant dream for the President at present. As a result, many defendants are released, emboldening them to continue their heinous activities.

Experts believe that social change is urgently needed to ensure women’s safety.