A “relaxed” Sanjay Roy had mutton for dinner like other inmates at the Presidency jail on Friday, the day before the verdict was announced in the RG Kar rape and murder of a junior doctor in which he was the sole accused.

On Saturday, after the Sealdah court pronounced him guilty, he remained silent and skipped dinner.

The former civic volunteer will learn on Monday what his punishment will be. Given the charges he has been convicted of, he can expect a life term or a death sentence.

Roy has been “exceptionally silent” since his return to jail from court on Saturday afternoon, prison sources said.

They said Roy was a loose cannon and often “laughed foolishly” while talking to the sentries outside his cell. But he appeared numb on Saturday. All he asked for was a cup
of tea.

“Despite all that is being said about him, his spirits had never appeared to flag. He would chat with the sentries and laugh quite often,” a prison source said on Sunday.

“But yesterday, after returning from court, he looked perplexed and morose. He did not speak with anyone.”

When dinner — rice, dal and a vegetable curry — was served inside his cell, he told a jail official that he would eat later. However, the food was found untouched on Sunday morning.

Roy had had his lunch on Saturday, like any other day, before being taken to court.

Unlike most other undertrial prisoners, Roy, who has been at the Presidency jail for five months, is kept locked inside his cell for most of the day given the sensitivity of
the case.

Roy is allowed to walk out of the cell twice a day — once to take his bath and later to wash his utensils after lunch, the sources said.

For the first two weeks, Roy had had to wear the same set of clothes in which he had walked into the jail. After that, a lawyer bought him fresh clothes.

Roy had left the courtroom fuming on Saturday after being disallowed from speaking. The judge told him that he would be allowed to speak at 12.30pm on Monday before his sentence was announced.

When Roy proclaimed his innocence in court after the verdict on Saturday, the judge had told him: “Shasti apnake pete hobe. Kotota paben, sheta pore janano hobe (You will have to be punished. How severely, you’ll know later).”

Roy will be free to challenge the verdict in a higher court, legal experts said.