RG Kar case: Parents of the deceased medic in the rape-murder case were dismayed at the verdict and questioned how it was not the ‘rarest of rare cases’. "We are shocked. How is this not the rarest of rare cases? An on-duty doctor was raped and murdered. We are dismayed. There was a larger conspiracy behind this crime," the mother of the deceased medic said after the court’s verdict.
The judge said that the crime did not fall under the ‘rarest of the rare’ category, and did not impose the death penalty on convict Sanjay Roy. The convict was given life imprisonment and Rs 50,000 in penalty. The victim’s family would get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the rape-murder and Rs 7 lakh for the death of the doctor while on duty. The state would pay the compensation, it said.
The victim’s parents sought the death penalty for Roy. They said they would move to the higher court seeking justice and claimed that the investigation was done half-heartedly. The parents said that several other culprits were shielded.
The victim’s counsel had called it the ‘rarest of rare cases’.
RG KAR VERDICT
The verdict was criticised by the BJP who called it a travesty of justice. BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya said, “Life imprisonment and a 50,000-rupee fine for Sanjoy Roy, accused in the RG Kar rape and murder case, is a travesty of justice. The verdict must be appealed. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must stop shielding the criminal. Agencies also need to investigate the role of the then Kolkata Commissioner and the Chief Minister in the destruction of evidence. Justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she has been seeking the death penalty for the convict from day one. “This was a serious case, and we have all demanded the death penalty. Had we been given the case, we would have ensured the death penalty. CBI can speak on it, they took away the case from us intentionally. I always want the highest punishment for such demons,” she said.