Calcutta:
The Kolkata Police allegedly imposed death penalty on the convict in the RG Kar rape and murder case, but the probe was taken away and handed over to the CBI, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today, minutes after a city court sentenced Roy to life imprisonment convicted. .
“We demanded the death penalty from day 1. We demand that now too. But it is an order from the court. I can share the opinion of my party. We have imposed the death penalty in three cases within 60 days. If the case had stayed with us, we would have ensured that death penalty would have been imposed long ago. I don't know the details.”
“The business was taken away from us. We had said that if we couldn't do it, then we should hand it over to the CBI. Because we want justice,” she said, adding that she was “not satisfied.”
The Trinamool Congress government has come under severe criticism after a 34-year-old doctor was found raped and murdered in a seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta on August 9. Amid allegations of silence involving top officials of the state government, the Supreme Court had ordered the CBI to take over the investigation into the case that sparked nationwide protests.
Five months later, a court in Kolkata today sentenced Sanjay Roy, a civilian volunteer, to life imprisonment, noting that the prosecution had failed to establish that the case fell into the 'rare of the rare' category to justify the death penalty .
The court also ordered the state to provide an amount of Rs 17 lakh as financial assistance to the doctor's elderly parents. However, the couple said they do not want compensation but justice. However, the judge said that they are legally entitled to the assistance and urged them not to see this as compensation.
The victim's parents and doctors who are still protesting the incident believe that the crime was not committed by Roy alone.
Doctors in Calcutta are protesting against an alleged cover-up by the state government to protect people close to the ruling party. Ms Banerjee has dismissed such allegations and actually led a protest march to demand justice for the victim.