When news of the life sentence trickled out of the court at 2.50pm, there were cries from the gathered crowd that a rapist had no place in society.
The crowd started gathering outside the court as early as 9am to hear the punishment, which was pronounced at 2.50pm.
Soon after the verdict was delivered, a protester announced over the public address system that Roy had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Groups of protesters then raised the slogan “a rapist has no place in society”.
Tuli Sengupta, who works at a nationalised bank, took leave to be at the Sealdah court. She came alone from Habra in North 24-Parganas.
“I wanted to be here in person to hear the punishment for Sanjay Roy for a crime as heinous as this,” said Sengupta, 41, who has participated in multiple protest rallies since the rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
While multiple layers of barricades guarded the court, the protests continued in the vicinity throughout the day.
The crowd, which swelled to a few hundred by noon, had gathered in front of the East-West Metro station to voice protests. The protesters were demanding the highest punishment — death — for Roy.
“An exemplary punishment would be a deterrentto other rapists,” said 18-year-old Sreyashi Marick, a student of political science.
“As a young girl, I felt threatened after this incident. The maximum punishment for the convict would make me feel safer,” Sreyashi said a couple of hours before the additional district and sessions judge at the Sealdah court, Anirban Das, sentenced Roy to life imprisonment.
Mahendra Sen, a 28-year-old finance professional, and his wife had stopped by the court for an hour and were heard discussing the events of the past few months.
For the better part of Monday, there was speculation about Roy’s punishment.
Around 11.30am, the parents of the slain doctor entered the court premises.
A radius of around 100m from the barricades had a large police deployment. The police did not allow anyone to lean on the barricades. Vendors were not allowed anywhere near the guardrails.
“We were instructed not to allow anyone to stand even behind the barricades on Monday to avoid any security lapse,” said a police officer on the court premises.