Members of a citizens’ forum including doctors participate in a rally to protest the rape and murder of a medical intern at a government hospital in early August in Kolkata, India, October 1, 2024. Vikas Das/AP, hide caption
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Vikas Das/AP
NEW DELHI — An Indian court on Saturday found a police volunteer guilty of the rape and murder of a medical intern. The crime sparked nationwide protests and hospital strikes last year amid renewed concerns over women’s lack of safety.
The murder of a 31-year-old doctor while working at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata in August once again highlighted the country’s chronic problem of violence against women. The case moved quickly through India’s notoriously slow legal system, with arguments beginning in November.
Judge Anirban Das said the sentencing for 33-year-old Sanjay Roy, to be announced on Monday, could range from life in prison to the death penalty.
Police found the bloody body of a woman in the seminar hall of the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. A subsequent autopsy revealed that the victim had been strangled and confirmed a sexual assault.
Roy was arrested the day after the crime. Since then, he has consistently maintained his innocence and maintained his innocence in court.
The case was initially investigated by the Kolkata Police, but a court later handed the investigation over to federal investigators after state government officials were accused of mishandling the investigation.
After the incident, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies calling for justice and improved safety. Thousands of women across the country also joined the “Take Back the Night” march and protested in the streets demanding justice for the victims. Some protesters called for the perpetrators of the crime to be given the death penalty.
The incident highlighted the rise in sexual violence against women in India and prompted India’s Supreme Court to set up a national task force to recommend ways to strengthen security measures in government hospitals.
In India, many crimes against women remain unreported due to stigma surrounding sexual violence and distrust of police. Women’s rights activists said the problem was particularly acute in rural areas, where communities sometimes stigmatized victims of sexual assault and families worried about their social status.
Still, the number of rape cases recorded in the country is increasing. Police recorded 31,516 rape reports in 2022, a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
In 2012, the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi sparked mass protests across India. This prompted lawmakers to order tougher penalties for such crimes and the creation of fast-track courts specifically for rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.
The rape law revised in 2013 also criminalized stalking and secret filming, and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.
