An Indian police volunteer has been sentenced to life in jail for the rape and homicide of a junior physician on the hospital the place she labored in Kolkata, a criminal offense that sparked nationwide protests and widespread hospital strikes final yr.
The court docket rejected calls for for the loss of life penalty, saying it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime.
The lady’s physique was present in a classroom on the state-run RG Kar medical faculty and hospital on 9 August. Different medical doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and higher safety at public hospitals.
Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, was convicted by choose Anirban Das on Saturday, who mentioned circumstantial proof had proved the costs towards him. Roy had claimed he was harmless and that he had been framed, and sought clemency.
The federal police, who investigated the case, mentioned the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” class and Roy, subsequently, deserved the loss of life penalty.
“I don’t contemplate it as a rarest-of-rare crime,” Das mentioned as he sentenced Roy to life in jail on each the counts of rape and homicide on Monday. “Life imprisonment, which means imprisonment till loss of life.”
The choose mentioned he had come to the conclusion it was not a rarest-of-rare crime after contemplating all of the proof and the circumstances linked to it. He mentioned Roy may attraction to the next court docket.
The sentence was introduced in a packed courtroom on Monday because the choose allowed the general public to witness proceedings. The fast-tracked trial had not been open to the general public.
The dad and mom of the junior physician had been amongst these in court docket on Monday. Safety was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed on the court docket advanced.
The dad and mom had mentioned earlier they weren’t happy with the investigation and suspected extra folks had been concerned within the crime. Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, advised Reuters on Monday that they’d sought the loss of life penalty for Roy and in addition demanded that these concerned in what they referred to as the “bigger conspiracy” be dropped at justice.
Protesting medical doctors had mentioned that demonstrations would proceed till justice was executed.
India’s federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 had been examined throughout the fast-tracked trial that started in November.
Police have additionally charged the officer heading the native police station and the top of the faculty on the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with proof.
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