Dec 4: 2,479 new COVID-19 cases, four fatalities in Karnataka
Dakshina Kannada reports 75 fresh Covid cases, one death
Bengaluru, Jan 4: Fresh COVID-19 cases saw another big spike for the fourth consecutive day in Karnataka on Tuesday with 2,479 infections and four deaths, taking the cumulative infections and fatalities to 30,13,326 and 38,355 respectively, the health department said.
The state is witnessing an uptick in fresh infections since January 1 when the tally breached the 1,000 mark after a gap of three months.
On January 2, there were 1,187 cases whereas on January 3, 1,290 cases were reported.
The department said in its bulletin that 288 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,61,410. Active cases stood at 13,532.
The spike in new cases was driven by Bengaluru Urban which contributed 2,053 infections and three deaths.
Other districts too had fresh cases including 75 in Dakshina Kannada, 72 in Udupi, 48 in Mysuru, 45 in Belagavi, 29 in Dharwad and 18 in Hassan.
Other than Bengaluru, one death occurred in Dakshina Kannada.
There were zero fatalities in 29 districts whereas Haveri reported zero infections and zero deaths.
The positivity and case fatality rates for the day were 2.59 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.
A total of 95,391 samples were tested in the state including 68,798 RT-PCR tests on Tuesday, taking the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5.68 crore.
There were 4,51,249 inoculations done, taking the total vaccinations against COVID to 8.75 crore, the department said.
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RG Kar verdict: Kolkata court pronounces accused Sanjay Roy guilty of rape-murder of on-duty medic
Kolkata (PTI): A Kolkata court on Saturday declared Sanjay Roy "guilty" of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a heinous crime that sparked nationwide outrage and prolonged protests.
The Sealdah court, where Roy’s trial was held, will declare his sentence on Monday, Anirban Das, the additional district and sessions judge, said.
The judgement was pronounced nearly two months after the in-camera trial commenced in November last year and 162 days after the heinous crime was committed on August 9, 2024.
Roy was found guilty under Sections 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that governs rape, and Sections 66 and 103 (1) of the Act, which deals with punishments for death and murder.
Section 103 (1) of BNS entails a possible punishment of death or life imprisonment.
The judge stated that Roy was found guilty of sexually assaulting the doctor and strangling her to death, and that the CBI had proven all the charges against him.
Das said Roy’s statement will be heard at 12:30 pm on Monday, and the sentence will be pronounced thereafter.
At the time of the delivery of the verdict, Roy claimed in court that he was framed.
In his defense, Roy said, "I wear a rudraksh necklace, and if I had committed the crime, it would have snapped.”
After the judgement, police whisked away Roy from the courtroom to the Presidency Correctional Home under strict vigil, preventing the waiting media persons from attempting any kind of interaction with the convict.
The medic’s parents thanked the judge for the guilty verdict and said the court honoured the trust they had reposed in it.
In its chargesheet, the CBI had mentioned Roy, a civic volunteer with the city police, as the prime and sole suspect of committing the gruesome rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee at the state-run hospital.
The Kolkata Police, which was investigating the case initially, arrested Roy on August 10, a day after the medic's body was recovered from the seminar room of the hospital.
The Calcutta High Court later transferred the case to the CBI, which had sought death penalty for the accused.
The in-camera trial in the rape and murder of the doctor commenced on November 12, and 50 witnesses were examined.
Hearing of the trial concluded on January 9.
The crime led to nationwide outrage and prolonged protests by junior doctors in Kolkata, demanding justice for the victim and stronger security arrangements in state-run hospitals.
Opposition political parties, including the BJP and the CPI(M), protested the ghastly crime, but apolitical movements demanding justice were more visible, with members of the civil society being at the forefront.
Members of the civil society in Kolkata and some other cities of the state took out midnight rallies, calling those ‘Reclaim the Night’ to demand justice for the doctor, who was christened ‘Abhaya’ by some and ‘Tilottama’ by others.
