Police volunteer convicted of raping and murdering doctor in India escapes death penalty, angering victim’s family

An Indian court on Monday sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and murder of a trainee doctor last year, a crime that sparked nationwide protests over inadequate safety for women and led to a speedy trial in the country’s slow justice system.

Sanjay Roy, 33, who has consistently maintained his innocence, can appeal the verdict to a higher court.

The doctor’s family burst into tears, saying they were “shocked” by the sentence and had hoped her killer would be hanged. But Judge Anirban Das said the case did not merit the death penalty because it was not the “rarest of rare cases” and ordered that Roy must spend his life behind bars.

The the murder of a 31-year-old doctor while on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata, she highlighted the chronic problem of violence against women in the country. The police discovered the bloody body of a woman in the seminar hall of the RG Kar Faculty of Medicine and Hospital last August 9. An autopsy revealed that she had been strangled and sexually abused.

Federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime deserved the death penalty. The victim’s parents also sought the death penalty for Roy and said they suspected more people were involved in the crime.

The case was initially investigated by the Kolkata Police, but later the court handed over the investigation to federal investigators after state government officials were accused of mishandling the investigation.

After the attack, doctors and medical students across India held protests and assemblies that require better security. Thousands of women also protested in the streets demanding speedy justice for the victim.

Indian doctors in government hospitals in several states have also staged a strike to protest against rape and murder.

Roy was arrested the day after the crime, and hearings in the case began in November. The attack prompted India’s Supreme Court to set up a national task force to suggest ways to increase security in government hospitals.

The victim’s mother and father, who sat next to Roy in court on Monday, said they wanted Roy to be executed.

“We are shocked by the verdict,” the victim’s father told AFP, tears streaming down his face.

“We will continue our fight and we will not let the investigations stop… No matter what, we will fight for justice.”

Family members cannot be identified under India’s Sexual Violence Reporting Act.

Before the sentencing, Roy again insisted on Monday that he was innocent and that he had been “framed”.

Roy’s lawyer, Kabita Sarkar, said he was “not mentally stable” and would appeal.

Police prevented several processions from reaching the court, but thousands gathered nearby chanting: “Hang him, hang him.”

Many cases crimes against women remain unreported in India due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Women’s rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where communities sometimes shame victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social status.

The outrage and protests across the country were similar to those seen after 2012 gang rape and murder young women on a bus in New Delhi on the move. The vicious attack prompted India to pass tougher laws against sexual violence, but according to the latest available government data, by 2022 authorities were still registering around 90 rapes a day on average.

The government also introduced the death penalty for returnees. Four men sentenced to death for the 2012 crime were hanged in 2020.

A rape law amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.

Activists say the new sentencing requirements have not deterred rapes and that the number of reported rapes has increased. In 2022, the police recorded 31,516 reports of rape – a 20% jump compared to 2021, according to the data National Criminal Records Office.

Just last week, police in southern India arrested 49 out of 64 men accused of sexually abusing an 18-year-old girl over the past five years. The girl, who has not been identified, reportedly told investigators that she had been sexually abused and gang-raped multiple times since she was 13.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.