Kolkata, March 23 – The parents of the doctor who became the victim of a horrific rape and murder within the premises of the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in August 2024, have accepted basic membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), confirmed Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Monday.
However, he added that the party leadership has yet to decide whether any of them will be the party candidate from the Panihati Assembly Constituency in North 24 Parganas district, where the victim and her parents are voters.
The BJP has released two lists of candidates for the upcoming two-phase Assembly polls in West Bengal, scheduled for next month, but has yet to announce its candidate from Panihati.
“Whether any of the family members of the victim’s family will be the candidate from Panihati or not will be decided by our party’s central leadership. The state committee had already conveyed its opinion in this matter to the central leadership, which I should not disclose at this time. Now, the final decision rests with our party’s central leadership,” said LoP Adhikari on Monday night.
Notably, the body of the victim, a female doctor, was recovered from within the R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9, 2024. The Kolkata Police initiated the investigation into the matter and arrested the sole convict in the case, Sanjay Roy, a former civic volunteer of the city police, as the sole accused.
Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation following an order of the Calcutta High Court, and the central agency also identified Sanjay Roy as the sole accused in the crime of rape and murder.
Later, the trial court in Kolkata convicted Roy as the sole convict in that crime and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Subsequently, the CBI challenged the order at the Calcutta High Court and sought the death penalty for Roy.