NEW DELHI — An Indian court on Saturday found a police volunteer guilty for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, a crime that [sparked countrywide protests](https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/08/26/g-s1-18366/rape-murder-doctor-india-sexual-violence-protests) and hospital strikes last year amid renewed concerns over lack of safety for women. The killing of the 31-year-old physician while she was on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata in August highlighted once again the chronic issue of violence against women in the country. The trial in the case was fast-tracked through India's notoriously sluggish legal system and arguments began in November. Judge Anirban Das said the sentence for 33-year-old Sanjay Roy will be announced on Monday and could range from life imprisonment to the death penalty. Police discovered the bloodied body of the woman at the city's R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital's seminar hall on Aug. 9. An autopsy later found the victim had been strangled and confirmed sexual assault. Roy was arrested a day after the crime. He has since consistently maintained his innocence and told the court that he was not guilty. The case was initially being investigated by the Kolkata police but later the court handed over the probe to federal investigators after state government officers were accused of mishandling the investigation. After the incident, doctors and medical students across India [held protests and rallies](https://www.npr.org/2024/08/29/nx-s1-5092374/anger-from-the-rape-and-murder-of-a-female-doctor-in-india-is-now-political) demanding justice and better security for them. Thousands of women across the country also protested on the streets, demanding justice for the victim as they participated in "Reclaim The Night" marches. Some protesters called for the perpetrator of the crime to be given the death penalty. The incident highlighted rising sexual violence against women in India and prompted India's Supreme Court to set up a national task force that suggested ways to enhance safety measures in government hospitals. Many cases of crimes against women go unreported in India due to the stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Women's rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where the community sometimes shames victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing. Still, the number of recorded rape cases in the country has increased. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape — a 20% jump from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. In 2012, the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus galvanized massive protests across India. It inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders. The rape law amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.

EPA The incident sent shockwaves across India and triggered mass protests A court in India has convicted a man of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor - a crime that sparked nationwide outrage. Sanjay Roy, a hospital volunteer worker, was found guilty over the attack, which happened in August last year at a hospital in Kolkata city in West Bengal state. The incident caused shockwaves across the country, leading to widespread protests and concerns over the safety of healthcare workers in India, especially women. Judge Anirban Das said the sentence, which will be announced on Monday, would range from life in prison to the death penalty. Roy has maintained his innocence and said previously that he was being framed. The victim's mother told the AFP news agency that people would lose faith in India's legal system if Roy was not handed the death penalty. The body of the 31-year-old doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found on 9 August 2024 at at the busy, state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. After a gruelling 36-hour shift, she had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar hall. Her half-naked, severely injured, body was later discovered near a podium by a colleague. The post-mortem examination found the victim had been strangled and had injuries showing she fought back. Wikimedia Commons The incident happened at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata According to the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which the BBC has seen, Roy went to the hospital in a drunken state and found the female doctor sleeping alone. He was arrested a day after the crime. The case was initially being investigated by the Kolkata police but later the court handed over the probe to the CBI after state officials were accused of mishandling it. For weeks after the incident, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding justice and better security for doctors. One such protest, the ["Reclaim the Night"](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmwj4z1xpko) march, saw tens of thousands of women walk through the streets at night in Kolkata and other cities on 14 August, the eve of India's Independence Day. In December, the victim's parents petitioned the Calcutta High Court for a fresh investigation, expressing a lack of faith in the CBI's investigation. They argued that Roy alone could not have committed the crime and stated they would be satisfied only when all those involved were brought to justice. The high court has said it will consider the plea only if the Supreme Court - which is monitoring the case - directs it to do so. The incident raised concerns about rising cases of violence against health workers in India - many of whom face physical abuse by angry patients or their relatives. A 2017 survey by the Indian Medical Association found that over 75% of doctors in India have experienced some form of violence. The survey also revealed that nearly 63% of doctors fear potential violence while treating patients. Meanwhile, sexual violence against women remains a widespread problem in India. [More than 31,000 rapes were reported in India in 2022](https://www.ncrb.gov.in/uploads/nationalcrimerecordsbureau/custom/1701935247TABLE3A3.pdf), according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Many rape cases in India go unreported, mostly due to social stigma around sexual violence and a lack of trust in the police and judicial system. Activists say this often results in the victim being shamed instead of the perpetrator, especially in rural areas. In 2012, the rape and murder of a medical student by a group of men in India's capital Delhi drew global attention and triggered similar, wider protests. The public anger prompted authorities to amend rape laws in 2013. The changes broadened the definition of the crime, set strict punishments for sexual assault and lowered the age at which a person can be tried from 18 to 16. _Follow BBC News India on_ [_Instagram_](https://www.instagram.com/bbcnewsindia/)_,_ [_YouTube,_](https://www.youtube.com/@bbcnewsindia/featured) [_Twitter_](https://x.com/BBCIndia) _and_ [_Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/)_._

An Indian police volunteer has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the hospital where she worked in Kolkata, a crime that sparked nationwide protests and widespread hospital [strikes](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/12/doctors-strike-in-india-after-and-at-state-run-hospital) last year. The court rejected demands for the death penalty, saying it was not a “rarest-of-rare” crime. The woman’s body [was found in a classroom](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/12/doctors-strike-in-india-after-and-at-state-run-hospital) at the state-run RG Kar medical college and hospital on 9 August. Other doctors stayed off work for weeks to demand justice for her and better security at public hospitals. Sanjay Roy, the police volunteer, [was convicted by judge Anirban Das on Saturday](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/18/indian-court-finds-police-volunteer-guilty-trainee-doctor), who said circumstantial evidence had proved the charges against him. Roy had claimed he was innocent and that he had been framed, and sought clemency. The federal police, who investigated the case, said the crime belonged to the “rarest-of-rare” category and Roy, therefore, deserved the death penalty. “I do not consider it as a rarest-of-rare crime,” Das said as he sentenced Roy to life in jail on both the counts of rape and murder on Monday. “Life imprisonment, meaning imprisonment until death.” The judge said he had come to the conclusion it was not a rarest-of-rare crime after considering all the evidence and the circumstances linked to it. He said Roy could appeal to a higher court. The sentence was announced in a packed courtroom on Monday as the judge allowed the public to witness proceedings. The fast-tracked trial had not been open to the public. The parents of the junior doctor were among those in court on Monday. Security was stepped up with dozens of police personnel deployed at the court complex. [](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/20/indian-police-volunteer-gets-life-sentence-for-raping-and-murdering-trainee-doctor#img-2) The rape and murder of the student sparked state-wide protests and strikes by medical students and doctors. Photograph: Rajat Gupta/EPA The parents had said earlier they were not satisfied with the investigation and suspected more people were involved in the crime. Their lawyer, Amartya Dey, told Reuters on Monday that they had sought the death penalty for Roy and also demanded that those involved in what they called the “larger conspiracy” be brought to justice. Protesting doctors had said that demonstrations would continue until justice was done. India’s federal police cited 128 witnesses in its investigation, of whom 51 were examined during the fast-tracked trial that began in November. Police have also charged the officer heading the local police station and the head of the college at the time of the crime with destruction of the crime scene and tampering with evidence.

Getty Images The crime sparked huge protests across the country A court in India has sentenced a man to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor, in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and protests. The judge rejected demands for the death penalty but said that Sanjoy Roy, a hospital volunteer who was [convicted](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gxp7dpl5po) over the weekend, would spend the rest of his life in jail. Roy has maintained he is innocent and is expected to appeal against the verdict in a higher court. The victim's family said they wanted him to be hanged, and that they were "shocked" by the sentence. "We will continue our fight, and won't let investigations stop... Come what may, we will fight for justice," the woman's father told AFP news agency. Indian law prohibits revealing the identity of victims of sexual violence and that of their family members. The trainee doctor's murder at the hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata where she worked sent shockwaves across the country last August. The 31-year-old had gone to sleep in the seminar hall of the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after a night shift. Her half-naked, severely injured body was later discovered near a podium by a colleague. The crime sparked widespread protests and concerns over the safety of healthcare workers in India, especially women. According to the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which the BBC has seen, Roy went to the hospital in a drunken state and found the female doctor sleeping alone. The autopsy report indicated that the woman had been strangled and had injury marks that showed she fought back. Roy was arrested a day after the crime and has consistently denied the allegations. In Kolkata, doctors went on strike for weeks, demanding action against the accused and officials who they said were complicit in delaying or derailing the investigation.

Geeta Pandey BBC News, London•[@geetapandeybbc](https://twitter.com/geetapandeybbc) Getty Images India is among a few dozen countries that do not recognise marital rape _**Warning: This report contains some disturbing details**_ An Indian court's ruling that a man's forced "unnatural sex" with his wife is not an offence has led to huge outrage and sparked renewed calls for better protections for married women. The controversial order has also brought back into the spotlight the issue of marital rape in a country which has stubbornly refused to criminalise it. Earlier this week, a high court judge in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh set free a 40-year-old man who was convicted by a trial court in 2019 of rape and unnatural sex with his wife, who died within hours of the alleged assault. The lower court had also found the man guilty of "culpable homicide not amounting to murder". He was sentenced to "rigorous imprisonment for 10 years" on each count, with all the sentences to run concurrently. But on Monday, the High Court's Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas acquitted the man of all charges, saying that since India did not recognise marital rape, the husband could not be considered guilty of non-consensual sex or any non-consensual unnatural sexual act. The judgement has been met with anger, as activists, lawyers and campaigners renew their calls to criminalise marital rape in India. "To watch this man walk away is unacceptable. This judgement may be correct legally, but it is ethically and morally abhorrent," said lawyer and gender rights activist Sukriti Chauhan. "An order that absolves a man of such a crime, to say it's not a crime, is the darkest hour in our legal system," she told the BBC. "It has shaken us to the core. This needs to change and change quickly." Getty Images Violence against women is rampant in India Priyanka Shukla, a lawyer in Chhattisgarh, said a judgement like this "sends out the message that because you're the husband, you have rights. And you can do anything, you can even get away with murder". She added that this is not the first time a court has given such a judgement, and there is always anger. "This time, the outrage is more because it is so gruesome and the woman died." The court documents make for grim reading. According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of 11 December 2017, when the husband, who worked as a driver, "committed unnatural sex with the victim against her will… causing her a lot of pain". After he left for work, she sought help from his sister and another relative, who took her to hospital where she died a few hours later. In her statement to the police and her dying declaration to a magistrate, the woman said she became ill "due to forceful sexual intercourse by her husband". A dying declaration carries weight in court and legal experts say it is generally enough for conviction, unless contradicted by other evidence. While convicting the man in 2019, the trial court had relied heavily on her dying declaration and the post-mortem report, which stated "the cause of death was peritonitis and rectal perforation" - simply put, severe injuries to her abdomen and rectum. Justice Vyas, however, saw matters differently – he questioned the "sanctity" of the dying statement, noted that some of the witnesses had retracted their statements and, most importantly, said that marital rape was not an offence in India. Getty Images A number of petitions have been filed in recent years seeking to criminalise marital rape The lower court's conviction was "a rarest of rare case", Ms Shukla said, "probably because the woman died". "But what is shocking about the high court order is that there's not even one sympathetic comment from the judge." Considering the nature of the assault, the high court's order has come as a shock for many, who believe the judge should not have dismissed the case so lightly. India is among more than 30 countries - along with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia - where marital rape is not a criminal offence. A number of petitions have been filed in recent years seeking to strike down Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which has been in existence since 1860. The British colonial-era law mentions several "exemptions" - or situations in which sex is not rape - and one of them is "by a man with his own wife" if she is not under 15 years. Britain outlawed marital rape in 1991 but India, which recently rewrote its criminal code, retained the regressive law in its new statute book. The idea is rooted in the belief that consent for sex is "implied" in marriage and that a wife cannot retract it later. Campaigners say such an argument is untenable in this day and age, and that forced sex is rape, regardless of who does it. But in a country where marriage and family are considered sacrosanct, the issue has polarised opinions and there's strong resistance to the idea of criminalising marital rape. The Indian government, religious leaders and men's rights activists have strongly opposed the move. In October last year, the government told the Supreme Court that criminalisation of marital rape would be "excessively harsh". The federal home ministry said it "may lead to serious disturbances in the institution of marriage". Authorities also insist that there are enough laws to protect married women against sexual violence. But campaigners say India cannot hide behind archaic laws to deny women bodily agency. Getty Images "A lot of people say the constitution cannot enter your bedroom," Ms Chauhan said. "But doesn't it grant women - like all citizens - fundamental rights to safety and security? What kind of redundant country do we live in that we remain quiet when a woman has to face this level of violence?" she asks. Violence within marriage is rampant in India. According to [a recent government survey](https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR375/FR375.pdf), 32% of married women face physical, sexual or emotional violence by their husbands and 82% have experienced sexual violence by their husbands. And even that doesn't give the true scale of the problem, Ms Shukla said, because a majority of women do not report violence, especially sexual violence, out of shame. "In my experience, women are not trusted when they complain, everyone says it must be fake. The only time such cases are taken seriously is when a woman dies or the assault is particularly gruesome," the lawyer said. Ms Chauhan believes nothing will change until the law changes. "We need to criminalise marital rape. The wife not getting justice after such a gruesome incident deserves a nationwide campaign, which is not born of anger but is serious \[and\] well thought out." She added that the government and men's activists try to project it as a "man versus woman debate". "But the demand for criminalising marital rape is not against men, but for the safety and wellbeing of women. Is it not important to ensure women's safety?"

Lucy Clarke-Billings BBC News Reuters Police said the assailants pushed three men into the Tungabhadra River canal before raping the two women Two women were gang-raped and a man was killed in an attack near a popular Unesco World Heritage site in southern India, according to police. The two women - an Israeli tourist and an Indian homestay operator - were stargazing with three male tourists near a lake in Hampi, Karnataka, when they were attacked by a group of men on Thursday night, police superintendent Ram Arasiddi told Reuters. Arasiddi said the assailants pushed the men into the Tungabhadra River canal before raping the women. Two of the men, one of them American, survived, and the third man's body was recovered on Saturday morning, he said. "Five people - two women and three men - were attacked near Sanapur," Arasiddi said. "Two of them are foreigners, an American \[man\], and another a woman from Israel." Police have arrested two of the men accused of the attack and an investigation is ongoing, Arasiddi said. Police believe the men followed the group. According to witness testimony from one of the women, the group was stargazing near a temple in Sanapur when three men arrived on a motorcycle and asked them where they could get petrol. As one member of the group gave them directions, one of the three men demanded 100 rupees ($1.29) from the tourists. "Since the homestay operator did not know them, she told them they had no money," police said. "When the men repeatedly insisted, one of the male tourists gave them 20 rupees. "After that, the three men allegedly started arguing." The body of one of the male tourists was later found in the Tungabhadra canal in Karnataka's Koppal district. A case has been registered at Gangavathi Rural Police Station under sections related to extortion, robbery, gang rape and attempted murder. The victims are receiving medical treatment at a government hospital, the police said. Hampi, an ancient village in the south Indian state of Karnataka, is home to numerous ruins and temples from the Vijayanagara Empire. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986. In a post on X, Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah wrote: "The attack and rape of an Israeli citizen and homestay owner is a most heinous act. "As soon as the incident was reported, I obtained information from the relevant police, conducted a thorough investigation, and instructed them to quickly identify the culprits. "The police have arrested two accused in connection with the case and are continuing the investigation." Attacks on women in India gained international attention last year after the brutal rape-homicide of a junior doctor at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata. The attack sparked national outrage and protests over a lack of safety for women.

Seetu Tewari BBC Hindi, Patna Cherylann Mollan BBC News, Mumbai Getty Images Cases of rape and sexual assault often make headlines in India The death of a 10-year-old rape victim in the eastern Indian state of Bihar after an alleged delay in medical treatment has sparked outrage in the country. The girl died on Sunday morning at the state government-run Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in the capital Patna. Her uncle has alleged that the child's condition worsened as she was kept waiting in an ambulance for around four hours on Saturday before being admitted to the hospital. PMCH authorities have denied this, saying that claims of a delay in admission are "baseless". The girl's death has made national headlines, with opposition leaders accusing the Bihar government - a coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal United (JD-U) - of gross mismanagement. The government has denied any negligence. The girl is from the Dalit community, which is at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy. Dalits face widespread mistreatment in India despite laws in place to protect them. Following the outrage, the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women have criticised the incident and asked for the hospital's role to be investigated. Rape victims cannot be named under Indian law. Getty Images PMCH is Bihar's oldest medical college The girl was raped on 26 May, allegedly by a man who lived near her aunt's house in Muzaffarpur. Police have arrested the man and are investigating the crime. The girl went missing while she was playing outside her house. Her family members later found her lying injured near a road. Police officials have told reporters that she had several knife wounds. She was first taken to a local hospital and then to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), around 85km (53 miles) from Patna. Kumari Vibha, the superintendent of SKMCH, told BBC Hindi that the child had several injuries, including wounds on her chest and neck, but that her condition had stabilised. She was referred to PMCH as she needed reconstruction surgery on her windpipe, Ms Vibha said. But at PMCH, the child's uncle said, they faced a delay in admission while the child waited in the ambulance. "They \[the hospital staff\] made us run around for four hours from one hospital department to another one," he alleged. She was later admitted to the gynaecology department, he said. The hospital has denied the allegations. IS Thakur, a top hospital official, said that the child's family had initially admitted her to the paediatrics department but that she was sent to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department because of her injuries. "Since we do not have an ICU in ENT, the child was shifted to the ICU of the gynaecology department," he said, adding that the child was brought in an Advance Life Support ambulance, which is equipped to offer critical care. "The allegations of a delay in getting a hospital bed are baseless," Mr Thakur said. Getty Images Congress workers protesting against the child's death on Sunday The child's plight began making news after a viral video showed members of the opposition Congress party arguing with hospital staff, demanding that she be admitted. Opposition parties in the state have held several protests since the death. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the girl's death was "extremely shameful" and demanded that strict action be taken against negligent officers. "The rape victim waited for hours outside PMCH to be admitted... what is the use of the big buildings being built in the name of hospitals when there is chaos, corruption, misbehaviour, lack of resources and insensitivity all around?" the state's main opposition party Rashtriya Janata Dal said on X. Leaders of the BJP and JD(U) have denied any negligence. Anamika Singh Patel, a BJP spokesperson, called the girl's death "unfortunate". "But I myself run a hospital and I know that getting a bed in a hospital is a process which takes time. People in our government are working responsibly," she said. The incident has also brought attention to the condition of Bihar's medical infrastructure, months before the state assembly election is due to be held. Last month, a patient at another government hospital in Patna [said](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bihar/rats-bite-patient-at-bihar-government-hospital-sparks-outrage/article69598584.ece) that a rat bit his toe while he was asleep. Hospital authorities had launched an investigation into the incident. On Tuesday, in a scathing editorial titled Bihar's Shame, the Times of India newspaper highlighted the sorry state of hospitals in the state. It referenced a recent [report](https://cag.gov.in/ag/bihar/en/audit-report/details/120622) that found that only half of all ventilators in government hospitals were functional and that capital Patna had just one government doctor for 11,541 people. That ratio is much worse in rural areas. _Follow BBC News India on_ [_Instagram_](https://www.instagram.com/bbcnewsindia/)_,_ [_YouTube,_](https://www.youtube.com/@bbcnewsindia/featured) [_X_](https://x.com/BBCIndia) _and_ [_Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/bbcindia/)_._

Anbarasan Ethirajan BBC World Service South Asia editor Hindustan Times via Getty Images Prajwal Revanna left the country in April 2024 - but was arrested a month later A court in southern India has sentenced a prominent politician in the state of Karnataka to life in prison after being found guilty of raping one of his domestic staff. The sentencing of Prajwal Revanna, who is from an influential political family in the state, took place on Saturday - a day after he was convicted of sexually assaulting his former employee. The allegations against the 34-year-old former Indian MP first came to light in 2023 after hundreds of explicit videos featuring him started circulating on social media, causing outrage across the country. Revanna had denied the charges. On Friday, he broke down and pleaded for a lesser punishment when he was found guilty. He can appeal against the sentence. Revanna is a grandson of former Indian Prime Minister, H D Deve Gowda, whose Janata Dal (Secular) party is allied with current Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP. It is rare that a person with such an influential political background gets punished in a case like this in India. [Revanna left India](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clkkzx1zyejo) in April 2024 using his diplomatic passport after hundreds of videos of alleged abuse began circulating in his state. At the time, Revanna did not comment on the videos, but an official from his office said the videos had been doctored. He was arrested a month later after arriving back home from Germany. He is still facing two other rape cases and one case of sexual harassment. He denies the charges. [ India MP arrested in sex-abuse case upon return to country ---------------------------------------------------------- ](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clkkzx1zyejo)