A shocking crime. A national outrage. The life sentence for the man guilty of raping and murdering a doctor in India raises many questions about violence against women and safety in hospitals. A look back at this affair which shook an entire country.
It was a case that deeply shocked the whole of India. A 33-year-old man was sentenced Monday to life in prison for the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor, whose bloodied body was discovered in a Calcutta hospital last August. A heinous crime which sparked an unprecedented wave of indignation across the country, already marked by numerous cases of sexual violence against women.
A look back at a crime that shook India
It was in a hospital in Calcutta that the drama unfolded. On August 31, the lifeless body covered in blood of a young 31-year-old doctor was discovered there. Very quickly, suspicion fell on Sanjoy Roy, a 33-year-old volunteer working in the establishment. Despite his denials, he was arrested the next day by the police. After several months of investigation, he was finally found guilty of rape and murder by Indian courts on Monday.
A life prison sentence that does not satisfy parents
If the verdict was welcomed as a relief by part of public opinion, the victim’s parents said they were “shocked”. In tears, they demanded the death penalty by hanging for their daughter’s murderer. But for Justice Anirban Das, the crime, as horrible as it was, did not deserve the death penalty because it was not the “rarest of rare cases”. He therefore sentenced Sanjoy Roy to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
An electroshock for the medical world
Beyond the emotion aroused by this heinous crime, this affair highlighted the often deplorable working conditions in Indian public hospitals. Shortly after the discovery of the body, some of the healthcare workers went on strike to demand reinforced security measures. A movement which led the Supreme Court to order the creation of a working group responsible for developing a national plan for the prevention of violence in health establishments.
Violence against women: the heavy silence of Indian society
This drama also revived the debate on violence against women in India, a few years after the gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus. A crime which had already shone the spotlight on the treatment of women in Indian society and the shortcomings of the judicial system in the fight against rape.
This crime shocked the country not only because of its brutality, but also because it happened in a hospital, a place where people are supposed to feel safe.
-– Declares a law enforcement official.
Following this new affair, pressure from public opinion pushed the government to toughen legislation against sexual violence, going so far as to introduce the death penalty for repeat offenders. A strong decision which led to the execution in March 2020 of the four men found guilty of the gang rape of the New Delhi student in 2012.
A trial under close surveillance
Given the outrage aroused by the affair, the authorities wanted to move quickly. Sanjoy Roy’s trial was held using an accelerated procedure, very rare in a country where justice is usually extremely slow. The attitude of local authorities and the conduct of the investigation in the first days were nevertheless the subject of strong criticism, leading to the dismissal of the Calcutta police chief and several health officials.
A life sentence that sounds like a warning
If Sanjoy Roy’s life sentence will not be enough to ease the pain of the victim’s loved ones, it nevertheless sounds like a strong signal sent to Indian society. A warning intended to remind us that such acts will no longer go unpunished, in a country still too often marked by a culture of silence around violence against women.
But beyond the severity of the sentence, a real change in mentalities is necessary to stem this scourge. A major challenge in this patriarchal society, where the fight for women’s rights and their security is still far from won. The murder case of this young doctor is a tragic reminder of this.
