The Sealdah court will pronounce on January 18 its verdict on the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, lawyers present during Thursday’s hearing said.

The additional district and sessions judge who has been hearing the case in-camera since November 11 is scheduled to deliver the verdict at 2.30pm, they said.

The CBI has sought the highest punishment — death — for Sanjay Roy, the lone accused chargesheeted in the case. The agency has called it a rarest of rare crimes, where a doctor was raped and murdered at her workplace, a government hospital.

The family of the slain doctor did not sound happy.

“How can a verdict come when there hasn’t been enough investigation? Several others besides Roy are involved and they should be brought to book,” the father told The Telegraph.

“Why was the body hurriedly sent for cremation? Why wasn’t there a second post-mortem? We have already moved court seeking a fresh investigation. We hope to get some verdict on that.”

The lawyer representing Roy told the court his client had been framed. Evidence provided by the CBI against Roy was not conclusive, he submitted.

The CBI told the court there were reasons to believe that Roy was the sole accused in the case and that it wasn’t a case of gang rape. Even a team of experts has said that the rape and murder appeared to have been the job of one person, the agency told the court during the nearly two-month-long hearing.

“The chargesheet is exhaustive with enough material and circumstantial evidence, forensic reports, opinions of experts, the statements of over 100 witnesses, including 51 for rape and murder and the rest for conspiracy, and DNA reports,” said a senior CBI officer.

“We hope the verdict will do justice to the victim, her family and others demanding it.”

A section of doctors demanding justice for the victim said they were still not convinced that it was one person’s act.

Roy, a now-suspended Kolkata Police civic volunteer, was present inside the courtroom during the day.

Some lawyers present in the room, closed to ordinary visitors, said Roy looked up and then lowered his head as the date and time of the verdict were announced.

Asfakulla Naiya, a postgraduate trainee in the ENT department at RG Kar, said it was difficult to believe such a heinous act was committed by one man, “all by himself”.

“We still don’t believe a single person was behind this heinous crime. The others who were involved shouldn’t be spared. We have raised this demand in various forums before. The CBI should reinvestigate,” Naiya said.

Former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, during whose tenure the young doctor was raped and killed, and the then officer-in-charge of Tala police station, Abhijit Mandal, were also arrested in connection with the rape and murder.

They were granted bail in December as the CBI failed to submit a chargesheet against them within 90 days of their arrest.

While Mandal has been released from custody, Ghosh is still in jail custody for his alleged involvement in financial irregularities at RG Kar.

A member of the Joint Platform of Doctors, Utpal Bandyopadhyay, said: “We hope the verdict will consider the role of the others involved in a larger conspiracy.”