‘Pervert, animal-like instincts’: What psychoanalysis test reveals about Kolkata rape-murder accused

As the investigation into the suspected rape and murder of a trainee physician at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College in West Bengal progresses, unsettling details are coming to light.

On Sunday, a team of experts from Delhi’s Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) began a psychoanalysis test of the main accused, Sanjay Roy.

They were called on orders issued by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

So, what is the test? What does it reveal about the accused? Let’s take a look.

Psychoanalysis test

A psychoanalysis test sometimes referred to as the Freudian personality test, is a psychological assessment used to identify a person’s personality type by standard psychoanalytic theory.

According to Positive Psychology, psychoanalysis is a talking therapy that attempts to treat a variety of mental health conditions by examining the connection between the conscious and unconscious aspects of psychological experience through clinical methods like dream interpretation and free association.

The test consists of 48 items that are scored on a five-point scale ranging from disagree to agree, according to the report.

Oral receptive, oral aggressive, anal expulsive, anal retentive, phallic aggressive, phallic compensative, classic hysteric, and retentive hysteric are the eight personality types for which the results are presented as scores ranging from zero to 100 per cent.

The psychoanalytic test is not without criticism, though. Many of the assumptions and hypotheses, according to experts, cannot be objectively tested.

As per Positive Psychology, it emphasises the “deterministic roles of biology and the unconscious and neglects environmental influences on the conscious mind.”

Also read: Kolkata rape-murder case: Was the crime scene altered?

Test results of the accused

The psychoanalytic profiling of the Kolkata doctor rape-murder accused, Sanjay Roy , has revealed that he is a “pervert and severely addicted to pornography”, a CBI officer said on Thursday.

The officer added that the 35-year-old had an “animal-like instinct” and that, when questioned, he exhibited no remorse for the heinous rape and murder.

“The man showed no repentance and narrated the entire episode giving every minute detail without hiccups. It appeared he had no remorse,” the officer told PTI. The team said he shared the details “without a trace of emotion.”

The experts also scanned his statements to the CBI so far to link those to the post-mortem and forensic findings.

Notably, the central agency is also mulling polygraph tests on the 35-year-old accused, Dr Sandip Ghosh and others. The Supreme Court on Thursday directed a Kolkata Court to pass an order by 5 pm on Friday on the CBI’s application to conduct the lie detector test.

According to The Times of India, CBI authorities informed the team that technical and scientific evidence had verified Roy’s presence at the crime scene.

The results of DNA testing are yet unclear.

Prior to this, the Kolkata police said that skin and blood traces discovered beneath the victim’s nails matched Roy’s hand injuries.

Also read: Kolkata rape-murder: Was the trainee doctor gang-raped at RG Kar Medical College?

History of abusive past

Roy also has a long history of violence and abuse.

It is reported that Roy joined the Kolkata Police’s Disaster Management Group as a civic volunteer in 2019 and using the “right channels” shifted to Kolkata Police’s Welfare Cell.

A Times of India report further states that he had been assigned to the police outpost at RG Kar Hospital on several occasions, granting him easy access to all hospital departments.

According to Roy’s neighbours, he was married four times, with three of his previous wives leaving him because of “misconduct." His fourth wife died of cancer last year, reported India Today. His neighbours added that Roy used to often return home late at night in an inebriated state.

The accused was known among people for his violent sexual impulses and numerous alleged violent acts.

After getting married, his sister — who is also employed in the police force — told a local television station that she had severed all ties with Roy, according to The Hindu.

“He was a drunkard, he never stayed home. One day he told us he was leaving home for good, and since then we, his sisters, took care of our mother,” she said, adding, “We have no knowledge of how he got the job of a civic volunteer. He did not tell us anything about how or when he got that job."

Roy’s ex-mother-in-law has also made serious accusations.

“I had a nasty relationship with him. He tortured my daughter. He assaulted her when she was three months pregnant, she lost the child,” she alleged. She said that the first six months of the marriage were pleasant before the accused began mistreating her daughter.

Roy’s arrest

On Friday, August 9, a female PGT doctor who was a second-year student in the department of chest medicine was discovered semi-naked inside the lecture hall at RG Kar Hall Medical College and Hospital.

The doctor had just finished her 36-hour shift when she went to rest in the hospital’s seminar hall. She was allegedly raped and severely beaten, according to the post-mortem report. She died from strangulation with 16 exterior and nine internal injuries.

Roy was arrested a day after the crime.

According to NDTV, CCTV footage showing Roy entering the building where the doctor’s body had been found murdered served as the basis for his arrest. A Bluetooth headset found next to the victim’s body was seen on his neck in the CCTV footage. It turned out that his phone had been linked with it.

India Today sources earlier revealed that Roy also visited a “red light area” in North Kolkata after midnight on August 8. He was drunk and had later asked a random woman for her nude photograph.

Roy reportedly confessed to the crime shortly after police began questioning him, according to local media. He had nonchalantly informed the cops, “Hang me if you want,” according to the reports.

Roy is scheduled to be produced in court again on Friday.

TOI reports that on Friday, he would meet for the first time with the state-appointed defence lawyers. When he appeared in court earlier, no attorney was prepared to represent him. The report also states that the CBI is thinking of holding a virtual hearing for security concerns.

CBI’s status report

The CBI on Thursday submitted a status report on the probe so far to the Supreme Court.

In its status report, the CBI claimed the crime scene might have been tampered with.

On behalf of the victim, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court that the CBI entered the probe on the fifth day, at which point everything was altered. In response to Mehta’s submission, Kapil Sibal, speaking on behalf of the West Bengal government, stated that everything is videographed and not altered, as per the Indian Express.

It also brought to light inconsistencies in the way the West Bengal Police handled the case, first telling the victim’s parents it was a suicide before changing their statement to say it was a murder.

The victim’s friend insisted on recording because they thought there was a cover-up in the case, according to the central agency.

“The senior doctors, colleagues of the victim asked for videography, that means even they felt there was a cover-up,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the victim, was quoted as saying by LiveLaw.

Another significant problem revealed by the report is the apparent delay from the time the body was discovered in the hospital’s seminar room early on August 9 and the notification of the local police of the occurrence.

Mehta stated that the victim’s top doctors and colleagues insisted on videography after the body was cremated and that an FIR was filed at 11:45 pm, indicating that they had suspicions as well.

According to lawyer Kapil Sibal, the post-mortem took place between 6:10 and 7:00 pm.

Responding to the same, Justice Pardiwala said, “The procedure followed by the police in criminal law is not as stated in the CrPC or what I have seen in my 30 years of career. So is it true that unnatural death report was given after the post-mortem.”

The Supreme Court will resume hearings in the case on September 5.

With inputs from agencies