A police volunteer has been found guilty of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor who was on duty in Kolkata, a crime that sparked protests across India amid concern for women’s safety.
The killing of the 31-year-old physician in August drew nationwide attention to the issue of violence against women and girls in India. Such was the outcry surrounding the case, the trial was fast-tracked through the country’s legal system.
Judge Anirban Das said the sentence for Sanjay Roy, 33, will be announced on Monday. His punishment could range from life imprisonment to the death penalty.
Police discovered the body of the woman at Kolkata’s RG Kar medical college and hospital’s seminar hall on 9 August. An autopsy found she had been strangled and that a sexual assault had taken place.
Roy was arrested a day after the crime. He has consistently maintained his innocence and told the court that he was not guilty.
The case was initially investigated by the Kolkata police but later the court handed it to federal investigators after state government officers were accused of mishandling the investigation.
After the attack, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding justice and better security. Thousands of women also protested on the streets, demanding justice for the victim as they participated in Reclaim the Night marches. Some protesters called for the perpetrator of the crime to be given the death penalty.
The attack prompted India’s supreme court to set up a national taskforce to suggest ways to enhance safety measures in government hospitals.
Many cases of crimes against women go 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 people sometimes shame the victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing.
The number of recorded rape cases in India has increased in recent years. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape – a 20% jump from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
In 2012, the gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus galvanised huge protests across India. It inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.
The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalised stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
