An Indian court has sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison for the rape and murder of a medical trainee who was attacked last August while on duty in Kolkata – a crime that sparked widespread protests across the country.
The trial, which began in November and took place in a closed court, was moved at an accelerated pace due to the protests, with many people taking to the streets to express their anger at the chronic violence against women in India, as well as the lack of security measures women doctors.
At Monday's sentencing hearing in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, Judge Anirban Das said that while it was a heinous crime, it was not the “rarest of the rare” cases that shocked society. Therefore, death penalty was not suitable for Sanjay Roy.
“You will be in jail till the last day of your life,” Das said while sentencing Roy on charges of rape and murder.
Before the verdict was announced, Roy pleaded with the court to avoid the death sentence, repeating that he was innocent and believed he was framed.
“Justice Still Waits”
Roy (33) worked informally as a police volunteer at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a government teaching hospital where the victim's body was found in a seminar room on August 9. The 31-year-old doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, reportedly went to the arena to rest after a 36-hour shift.
Her body was half-naked and had serious injuries, and an autopsy revealed that she had been the victim of sexual assault and strangulation.
Roy was arrested the day after the victim was found and formally charged last October, and federal investigators later revealed he was arrested after CCTV footage captured him entering a seminar room.
After the guilty verdict was confirmed Saturday and a verdict was still pending, the victim's mother told reporters that she believed Roy did not act alone but “the others have not been arrested yet.” So justice has not yet been served.”
In the courtroom on Monday, the doctor's parents cried, expressing their horror that their hope for a death sentence had disappeared.
“We are shocked by the verdict,” her father told Agence France-Presse. “We will continue our fight… whatever happens, we will fight for justice.”
On Monday, a crowd of protesters also gathered in front of the court to express their dissatisfaction with the verdict.
The victim's parents had earlier alleged that the West Bengal Police tried to do this delay the investigation and tamper with evidence.
The court also awarded the family 1,700,000 rupees (approximately S$28,500) in compensation, even though the victim's parents told the court they did not want any money. “I just want justice for our daughter and nothing else,” the father said.
The case was initially investigated by Kolkata police but was later handed over to federal investigators after state officials were accused of misconduct.
“I am… horrified, astonished and very touched,” said Dr. Sayantani Ghosh Hazra, a resident of KPC Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, in reaction to Monday's verdict.
“Justice is still pending,” she said, referring to her belief that more people were involved in the crime.
Hazra was heavily involved in the demonstrations that followed the rape and murder, and fasted for up to 17 days in protest.
“Everyone longs for justice,” she said, until a full account of what happened that night is made.
Security concerns persist
Months after the attack, Kolkata's RG Kar hospital remains cluttered with posters and graffiti condemning the rape and what many see as the authorities' reluctance to fully investigate the crime.
“We feel like we lost our sister,” Dr. Asfakulla Naiya, a resident of the same hospital as the victim, told CBC News in an interview before the verdict was announced. He emphasized the shock of the attack in a seminar room where doctors are taught how to “save lives, not take them.”
Naiya wanted Roy's sentence to set an example and “create fear” in would-be rapists to think “a thousand times” before attacking a woman.
The brutal rape and murder sparked nationwide rallies and weeks of doctors' strikes, with thousands of women calling for justice and opposing victim blaming in one demonstration titled Reclaim the Night.
Rimjhim Sinha, one of the organizers of that protest and subsequent rallies, said Monday's verdict should be accompanied by real social change for it to have any significance.
“Even the death penalty does not really ensure the eradication of rape culture in our society, regardless of the number of cases in which the perpetrators have been sentenced to death by hanging,” said Sinha, an activist and researcher on women's rights in India.
Thousands of people gathered outside a hospital in Kolkata, India, calling for justice for a young trainee doctor who was raped and murdered last month during a break after a long shift.
“Women are not even considered people,” she said. “We are considered property or something that someone should keep as a trophy.”
Sinha said little had changed culturally in India since the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi in 2012, which shocked the country and sparked huge protests. This case resulted in tougher penalties for rape and a fast-track trial to deal with assault charges.
Still others, like 22-year-old medical student Debasmita Das, are skeptical that the life sentence handed down will lead to more appropriate safety measures for female healthcare workers. After the attack, India's Supreme Court established a national task force to increase security in government hospitals.
“How can a murder take place in a hospital (when the victim was) on duty?” Das told CBC News.
“I will be doing an internship in three years. How will I feel safe?”