The circumstances surrounding the rape and murder case of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital have been revealed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), detailing the cause of death and the evidence against the accused.
The agency on Tuesday submitted the charge sheet at a special court in Sealdah, a Kolkata suburb. It charged Sanjoy Roy, who used to work with the Kolkata Police as a contractual staff, with the rape and murder of the 31-year-old on-duty doctor.
The statements of about 200 people were recorded in the charge sheet, according to NDTV.
The CBI followed the Kolkata Police’s line of investigation and relied on digital and material evidence to establish Roy’s presence at the scene of the crime.
CCTV footage was used to establish his movement from 3.34am on the day of the crime (Aug 9), when he was seen at the entrance of the trauma centre building “wearing a T-shirt and jeans, holding a helmet in his left hand with Bluetooth neckband earphones around his neck”.
A Bluetooth neckband earphone was seized by local police from the scene of the crime on Aug 9. This was used as a crucial piece of evidence to nail and arrest Roy a day after the crime.
Call details from Roy’s mobile number also corroborated his presence at the hospital at the time of the crime.
The physical evidence collected include Roy’s blood, saliva and hair – all found at the scene of the crime.
According to the CBI, the woman died due to asphyxia, resulting from a combined effect of throttling and smothering.
“The injuries related to the hymen, which were fresh in origin, clearly indicate that the victim had suffered forceful penetrative sexual assault,” the charge sheet noted.
Injuries found on the accused’s body indicated the use of blunt force consistent with signs of resistance by the victim.
On Monday, a Kolkata court took cognisance of the charge sheet and decided that Roy’s trial would be held in-camera, reported the Press Trust of India.
The court also fixed Nov 4 as the date for the framing of charges, an important step towards delivering justice to the young doctor and her family.
Roy spoke in court for the first time on Tuesday and said: “If I don’t speak, all the blame will be put on me. I don’t know anything about the case, I am innocent.”
But the brutality of his alleged acts has already sent ripples of horror across the country, with the Supreme Court saying the case had “shocked the conscience of the nation”.
The outrage was compounded by allegations that senior hospital staff had tried to cover up the incident. The then head of the hospital, Sandip Ghosh, allegedly made the victim’s family wait several hours before allowing them to see her body, and they were initially informed she had taken her own life. Ghosh was later arrested on charges of tampering with evidence.
The hospital was said to have taken 14 hours to file a police report. The parents of the doctor alleged that police had also attempted to cover up the crime and bribe them to stay quiet.
The brutality of the murder and allegations of a cover-up prompted mass protests across the country and a lengthy strike by junior doctors in Kolkata, who demanded that the state government do more to protect their safety in hospitals and ensure justice for the victim.
