Kerala Court awards life term to accused in Dr Vandana Das murder case

An Additional District and Sessions Court in Kollam on Saturday sentenced G Sandeep to life imprisonment in the sensational murder case of Dr Vandana Das at the Government Taluk Hospital in Kottarakkara.

In addition to life imprisonment for murder, the court awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for attempt to murder and another 10 years each for assaulting healthcare workers. A fine of ₹1 lakh was also imposed on the convict.

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The court had, on March 17, found Sandeep guilty under multiple provisions of the IPC, including Section 302 (murder) and Section 307 (attempt to murder).

While pronouncing the sentence, the court observed that the prosecution had established the case through consistent eyewitness accounts, medical evidence, and material records. It rejected the defence argument that the accused suffered from a mental disorder.

Reacting to the verdict, Vandana Das’s parents said they would approach the High Court seeking further legal recourse.

Dr Vandana Das was fatally stabbed by a police detainee who had been brought for medical examination at the Government Taluk Hospital in Kottarakkara in Kerala’s Kollam district in the early hours of May 10, 2023.

The accused attacked her at around 4 am, and she later succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

The 42-year-old accused, a school teacher, had also assaulted four others at the hospital, including police personnel who had brought him for treatment. He had been taken into custody on the night of May 9, 2023, after allegedly attacking his family members.

According to reports, the police had taken him to the hospital for a mandatory medical examination after he sustained a minor injury. However, he turned violent without provocation and carried out the fatal attack.

Dr Vandana Das had completed her MBBS from a medical institute in Kollam and was undergoing her house surgency at the Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital at the time of the incident. She hailed from Kaduthuruthy in Kottayam district.

The case had sparked widespread outrage across the state and raised serious concerns over the safety of healthcare professionals on duty.