Charges Drawn Up In Kolkata Rape-Murder Case, Accused Says "Framed"

Sanjay Roy, the prime suspect in the rape-murder of a Kolkata doctor, has claimed that he is innocent that that he is being framed by the government. His reiteration of innocence came as charges were framed against him in a case that had sent shockwaves across the country and sparked a massive protest by Bengal's junior doctors that had ripple effect in many states.

While he was being escorted out of the court, Sanjay Roy made some startling claims. "I have done nothing. I have been framed in this rape-murder case. Nobody is listening to me. The government is framing me and threatening me not to open my mouth... I am being framed to protect the real culprits," he screamed at television cameras while being taken to the waiting prison van by the police.

Sanjay Roy is the only man who has been accused in the rape-murder of August 9. Charges were framed under the BNS sections 103(2), 64, 66 against Sanjoy Roy  today. The trial will begin on November 11. The framing of charges comes 87 days after the incident. 

In the chargesheet, the CBI has largely followed the Kolkata Police's line of investigation and evidence collected by them and depends on digital and material evidence to establish him at the scene of the crime when the crime occurred. 

The CBI stated that CCTV footage from the spot establishes him at the crime scene. The agency has listed the timings of the movement of the accused from 3:34 am on August 9 when he is seen at the entrance gate of the trauma centre building.

A civic volunteer who worked with the Kolkata police, Sanjoy Roy had the free run of the hospital and was caught on CCTV cameras entering the hospital before the rape-murder of the 31-year-old doctor took place. Investigators released a CCTV screen grab of Sanjay Roy entering the hospital an hour after midnight. The footage showed a Bluetooth earphone coiled around his neck, which the police said was found in the crime scene.

Sanjoy Roy, who is in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation that is probing the case, has claimed that he is being threatened. He told this to the media while leaving the court premises.

Though many had suspected gangrape in the case, the central agency had contradicted it after recording over 100 statements and conducting 10 polygraph tests, including two of the hospital's former chief Sandip Ghosh. Roy is the lone accused in the case.

Roy had undergone a polygraph test earlier, insisting it would help establish his innocence.