Police volunteer found guilty in doctor rape case in India. sexual harassment news
Last August, a blood-soaked body of a female doctor was found in the classroom of a government college and hospital in Kolkata.
A police volunteer has been convicted in the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a hospital in India, which sparked nationwide protests last year.
The civil and criminal court in Sealdah found Sanjay Roy, 33, guilty of the rape and murder of the female intern, whose blood-soaked body was found in a classroom at the government-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last August. The case highlights the country’s struggle with sexual violence against women.
Judge Anirban Das, who presided over the fast-track trial, said the defendant, who protested his innocence in court and insisted he was framed, could face life in prison or the death penalty when he is sentenced on Monday.
“Your crime has been proven. You are being held guilty,” the judge said, announcing that the charges had been proven by circumstantial evidence.
Roy’s lawyers, who have not yet commented on the verdict, argue that there were glaring discrepancies in the investigation and forensic investigation reports in the trial, which began on November 11 and examined 51 witnesses.
The parents of the 31-year-old victim, who cannot be named under Indian law, expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation, saying the crime could not have been committed by just one person.
Her father said, “Our daughter could not have met such a terrible end at the hands of a single man.” “Until all the culprits are punished, we will continue to live in pain and suffering. My daughter’s soul will not rest in peace until she gets justice.”
seeking justice
More than 200 armed police personnel were deployed in anticipation of the verdict.
As Roy was brought to the court in a police car, protesters chanted: “Hang him, hang him.”
Many doctors raised slogans in solidarity with the victim.
Junior doctors’ spokesperson Dr Aniket Mahato said the street protests would continue “until justice is served”.
The gruesome nature of the attack led to weeks of nationwide protests, which were compared to the 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in the capital New Delhi. Due to this, doctors of government hospitals demanded additional security.
The Supreme Court of India formed a national task force following the protests that suggested ways to enhance security measures in government hospitals.
The Federal Police of India, which investigated the case, also accused the chief officer of the local police station at the time of the crime and the then head of the hospital, of destroying the crime scene and tampering with evidence.
The police officer is out on bail while the former head of the hospital is in custody in a separate case of financial irregularities at the hospital.
