West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed shock and disappointment over the Kolkata court’s life imprisonment of the convict in the RG Kar hospital case. Banerjee said that the state government will approach the Calcutta High Court seeking capital punishment for the convict. Banerjee said that she is convinced that it’s a ‘rarest of rare’ case.

“In the R.G. Kar junior doctor’s rape and murder case, I am really shocked to see that the judgement of the Court today finds that it is not a Rarest of Rare case! I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. How could the judgement come to the conclusion that it is not a rarest of rare cases?” Banerjee said.

The Bengal CM said that the state government wants and will insist upon the death penalty in ‘this most sinister and sensitive case’. 

“Recently, in last 3/4 months, we have been able to ensure capital/ maximum punishment for convicts in such crimes. Then, why, in this case, has capital punishment not been awarded? I strongly feel that it is a heinous crime that warrants capital punishment. We will plead for capital punishment of the convict at the High Court now,” she added.

Speaking to reporters in Murshidabad district, Mamata Banerjee also criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its probe into the rape-murder of the on-duty medic at the state-run hospital.

The Sealdah court, presided by Additional District and Sessions Judge Anirban Das, on Monday sentenced Sanjay Roy to life imprisonment, after convicting him for the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, 2024. The ghastly crime had led to unprecedented and prolonged nationwide protests.

Judge Das ruled that the crime did not meet the criteria for the “rarest of the rare” category, which would have warranted the death penalty.