Kollam (Kerala), March 21 A Kerala court on Saturday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of Dr. Vandana Das in a taluk hospital in May 2023.
The Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court sentenced G. Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and stated that after he serves that sentence, his life imprisonment for the murder of the doctor will commence, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G. Padickal told reporters.
The court on March 17 had convicted him for various offenses under the then IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence, and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the early hours of May 10, 2023, and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being treated.
A school teacher by profession, he initially attacked the police officers and a private person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr. Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr. Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and was the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing 10-15 metres away from his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
