RG Kar case: In chargesheet, CBI flags asphyxia and 12-hour autopsy delay

 The interim report says that the victim “suffered forceful penetrative sexual assault” and the report of the swab collected from her body parts shows “the presence of saliva belonging to Sanjay Roy as confirmed by DNA profiling report”, the chargesheet says

Kinsuk Basu, TT, Calcutta, 09.10.24 : An interim report in the RG Kar rape-and-murder case by experts from at least five Delhi hospitals of national repute has said the 31-year-old junior doctor died of asphyxia “as a combined effect of throttling (manual strangulation) and smothering”, the CBI chargesheet states.

The interim report says that the victim “suffered forceful penetrative sexual assault” and the report of the swab collected from her body parts shows “the presence of saliva belonging to Sanjay Roy as confirmed by DNA profiling report”, the chargesheet says.

This newspaper has gone through the contents of the chargesheet that the CBI submitted before the Sealdah court on Monday.

According to the chargesheet, the interim report by the experts says that the victim “died 12 to 18 hours prior to conduction of autopsy” and that the post-mortem was conducted “under videography” between “18.10 hours to 19.10 hours” on August 9.

This means the junior doctor died sometime between midnight and 6am on August 9 when she was alone and “...remained in the seminar room alone for taking rest on the mattress kept in dais”.

The experts, whom the cha­rgesheet refers to, are part of a multi-institutional medical bo­ard (MIMB) that the directorate general of health services (DGHS) constituted following a request from the CBI while probing the RG Kar rape-and-murder case.

The chargesheet states that the medical board comprised “expert members from AIIMS, Dr Ram Monohar Lohia Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, under the chairmanship of Dr Adarsh Kumar, professor, forensic medicine, AIIMS New Delhi, to provide medico-legal opinion in this case”.

The report says that the injuries found on the body of Roy, the lone accused so far according to the chargesheet, “are blunt force injuries consistent with marks of resistance/struggle by the victim”.

It further says: “The age of these injuries could be between 24 to 36 hours prior to examination.”

The special investigation team of Kolkata Police arrested Roy on August 10, a day after the junior doctor was found raped and murdered and a medical examination was conducted on him at the SSKM Hospital immediately after.

“During his medico-legal examination, urethral swab & smear, nail clippings & scrapings were preserved and handed over to police,” the chargesheet stated.

The chargesheet provides details of Roy’s family background, his date of birth, his two separate certificates from Bhowanipore Boxing Association and what he did on the night of August 8 with another civic volunteer, Sourav Bhattacharya.

“Both of them returned to RG Kar MC&H at around 3.20 hours of 09.08.2024. While Sourav left immediately for his barrack Sanjay Roy went to the first floor of the trauma care building to ascertain about the scheduled operation of one Subho Dey,” the chargesheet stated.

It added: “However, he could not see anyone from the family of Subho Dey on first floor of trauma care building. Then he went to 4th floor of Emergency Building. Thereafter, he reached the 3rd floor of the Emergency Building (chest medicine department) at 04.03 hrs and entered Seminar Room where the victim was sleeping alone. Sanjay Roy committed the crime of rape and murder of victim... and left the third floor at 04.32 hrs.”

The chargesheet also mentions what each of the victim’s colleagues on that shift did when she went to take rest. It also details the events in the immediate aftermath of the discovery of the body.

The CBI on Tuesday handed a copy of the chargesheet to Roy at the Sealdah court. Roy told the court he was not involved and had committed no crime.