Kolkata court frames charges against RG Kar rape-murder case prime accused

KOLKATA: Eighty-seven days after the body of a woman medic was found at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a Kolkata court on Monday framed charges against the prime accused, Sanjay Roy.

The court announced that day-to-day trial in the case would commence from November 11.

Roy has been booked under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (rape), Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state) and 103 (punishment for murder).

"I have done nothing. I have been framed in this rape-murder case. Nobody is listening to me. The government is framing me and threatening me not to open my mouth," Roy told reporters as he was led out of the Sealdah court.

Roy was arrested by the Kolkata Police on August 10, a day after the on-duty woman doctor’s body was found inside the seminar room of the RG Kar hospital. Later, the CBI took up the investigation into the case on a Calcutta High Court order.

Senior West Bengal Congress Adhir Chowdhury said that Roy's claims should be taken seriously and probed.

"Such claims of an accused should not be ignored and call for an investigation. We have been saying that such a crime is not possible by a single person. It's a collective crime. We do not know whether the CBI and the Kolkata Police are in an understanding. We are sceptical,” he said.

The role of the police is also required to be probed, said Chowdhury, a former state Congress president.

In its charge sheet submitted last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) identified Roy as the "sole prime accused" in the case.

Meanwhile, during the hearing in the corruption case in the same hospital, the central agency told a special CBI court in Alipur here that there was a "deep conspiracy" behind the crime.

The Calcutta High Court on August 23 ordered transfer of the probe into alleged financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of its former principal Sandip Ghosh from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the CBI. Ghosh was arrested in the case.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations staged a rally from Karunamoyee Crossing to the CBI's office in CGO Complex in Salt Lake demanding that the agency quicken its probe into the RG Kar rape-murder case.

"It's almost three months since the incident happened. What is the CBI doing? There is no clarity in its investigation. We want the CBI to complete its investigation as soon as possible," said Lipika Chakraborty, a school teacher, who participated in the march.

BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, "The CBI is investigating the case though the police are not cooperating with it. We must be patient," he said.

Senior leader of the ruling TMC, Kunal Ghosh, said the Kolkata Police arrested the accused within 24 hours after the crime was discovered.

“The CBI has also mentioned him as the sole prime accused in its charge sheet. So, when an investigation is on, it is not appropriate to comment," said Ghosh, a former Rajya Sabha MP.

Later in the evening, junior doctors are scheduled to organise rallies in different parts of West Bengal demanding justice for the deceased medic.