Kolkata, Jan 21: The West Bengal government on Tuesday approached the Calcutta High Court, challenging the special court’s verdict sentencing Sanjay Roy, convicted in the rape and murder of a junior doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, to life imprisonment.

State Advocate General Kishor Datta has approached the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi seeking a “death penalty” for the convict.

The division bench has admitted the petition from the state government.

After the court pronounced the quantum of sentence, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday evening that the state government would approach the Calcutta High Court challenging the verdict.

She also said the state government will be seeking the “death penalty” for the convict.

“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,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

According to her, she was deeply shocked at the judgment of the special court which did not consider the crime as the “rarest of rare”.

“I am convinced that it is indeed a rarest of rare cases which demands capital punishment. We want to insist upon the death penalty in this most sinister and sensitive case,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.

“Recently, in the 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?” the Chief Minister’s statement added.

“We demanded the ‘death penalty’ for the convict. I don’t know how….Had the case been in our hands (read state police or Kolkata Police), the death sentence would have been pronounced much earlier,” the Chief Minister said.

While pronouncing the quantum of sentence, special court judge Anirban Das said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s contention that Roy’s offence in the matter was “the rarest and rare crimes” was not tenable.

Kolkata, Jan 20: A special court in Kolkata, on Monday, sentenced Sanjay Roy, the sole accused in the case of ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, to life imprisonment.

While pronouncing the quantum of sentence, the judge of the special court, Anirban Das, also made it clear that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s contention that Roy’s offence in the matter was “the rarest and rare crimes” was not tenable.

Hence, the judge observed that instead of the “death penalty”, Roy, an erstwhile civic volunteer attached to Kolkata Police, be sentenced to “life imprisonment”.

Apart from that a financial penalty of Rs 50,000 has also been imposed on Roy.

The judge of the special court, at the same time, directed the West Bengal government to pay a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to the family of the victim.

The judge observed that the since the victim was raped and murdered at her workplace, which is a state-government entity, legally the state government has to pay compensation to the victim’s family.

The detailed order copy will be uploaded soon following which the other details of the order of the special court will be available.

On January 18, Roy was convicted under Section 64 (punishment for rape), Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state of a victim) and Section 103(I) (punishment for murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

On the compensation issue, the victim’s parents argued that they have never sought money as compensation for the ghastly end of their daughter.

The judge explained to them that while he was aware that they had not sought compensation, as per legal provisions he had ordered the state government to pay the compensation.

“Now how you will utilize the money is entirely up to you,” the judge of the special court said.

The body of the victim doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year. The initial investigation into the matter was started by a special investigation team of Kolkata Police, who arrested Roy. However, the CBI started an investigation five days from the date of the crime following an order of the Calcutta High Court and thereafter Roy was handed over to the central agency officials by the city police.

The trial process in the matter started on November 11 last year, 59 days after the body of the victim was discovered in the seminar hall within the R.G. Kar premises.

The conviction process was completed on January 18. The sentence was pronounced at 2.45 p.m. on Monday exactly 164 days from the date of crime.

While the conviction in the crime of “rape and murder crime” is over, the angle in the tampering of evidence in the matter is still alive. The CBI, sources said, had already informed the special court that the scope for filing a supplementary charge sheet on the “tampering of evidence” angle is still open, which keeps the case open.

Last year the former and controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal were granted “default bail” by the same special court, as CBI failed to file the supplementary charge sheet against the duo within 90 days of their arrest.

Both Ghosh and Mondal were accused of misleading the investigation and tampering with the evidence while the initial investigation in the matter was being carried out by Kolkata Police before the CBI took charge of the investigation following an order of the Calcutta High Court.

Vijayapura (Karnataka), Jan 20: In a shocking incident, three labourers in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district were brutally thrashed by their employer for returning late to work after festival celebrations, said officials on Monday.

A video showing the labourers being assaulted with iron pipes by three men went viral in the state, raising widespread concern.

According to the police, the incident occurred at a brick factory near Star Chowk in the Gandhinagar locality on the outskirts of Vijayapura city.

The victims have been identified as Sadashiva Madar, S. Babaladi, and Umesh, who are from Chakkaliki village in the state’s Bagalkot district. Preliminary investigations revealed that the owner of the brick factory, Khemu Rathod, had the labourers punished inhumanely for a trivial reason.

Vijayapura Superintendent of Police (SP) Laxman B. Nimbargi stated to the media that legal action would be taken against Khemu Rathod and others involved in the incident.

Police sources revealed that the labourers had taken an advance payment from the accused owner, Khemu Rathod, after agreeing to work in his brick factory. They had gone to their native village to celebrate the Sankranti festival but returned four days late.

The delay enraged Khemu Rathod, who verbally abused them first and questioned their being late. Despite the victims’ assurances that they would complete the pending work, the accused became furious. He got all three labourers tied with ropes and then assaulted them inhumanely.

The video shows the three labourers with their hands and legs tied, made to sit with their legs stretched out. While one of the accused’s associates holds a victim’s hair and stands on their knees, another is seen beating the victim’s feet with an iron pipe with full force. All three victims are seen being punished in the same manner, screaming and wailing in pain as they endure the assault.

The police have registered a case and launched an investigation into the matter.