Kolkata, Jan 9 (IANS): A special court in Kolkata will pronounce, on January 18, the verdict in the ghastly rape and murder of a junior woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata in August last year.

The verdict will be pronounced 68 days after the trial process in the matter started at the special court on November 11 last year.

The body of the doctor was recovered from the seminar hall within R.G Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year.

The initial investigation into the matter was carried out by a special investigation team (SIT) of Kolkata Police, who arrested civic volunteer Sanjay Roy as the prime accused in the case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which later took over the investigation, too - in its one and only charge sheet - also identified Sanjay Roy as the "sole prime accused" in the crime of rape and murder.

During the course of interrogation, CBI sleuths arrested the former, controversial principal of R.G. Kar Sandip Ghosh and the former SHO of Tala Police Station Abhijit Mondal on charges of tampering with the evidence. However, both were recently granted default bail by the special court recently because the CBI failed to file a supplementary charge sheet against both of them within 90 days from the date of their arrests.

The CBI came under scathing criticism from different sections of society over the development. Ghosh is still behind bars because of a parallel probe against him by CBI in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, while Mondal is currently out on bail.

In the meantime, the parents of the victim first approached the Calcutta High Court and then the Supreme Court with a plea for a fresh probe to unravel the “bigger” conspiracy behind the crime.