Dr. Vandana Das Murder: Kerala Court Finds G. Sandeep Guilty, Rejects Fake Insanity Plea
Accused G Sandeep found guilty, quantum of sentence to be pronounced on March 19: Reports
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An additional sessions court in Kerala on Tuesday found G. Sandeep guilty of murdering Dr. Vandana Das, who was fatally stabbed with a surgical knife while on duty at a hospital in Kollam district on May 10, 2023.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on March 19.
Judge P. N. Vinod of the Kollam Additional Sessions Court stated that the accused is not covered under Section 84 of the IPC, which offers legal protection to persons of unsound mind. He was convicted of murder and found guilty under eight sections of the IPC, including attempting to murder the police officer on duty, destroying evidence, and obstructing a public servant in their duties.
He was also convicted under provisions of the Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act. Prosecution counsel Prathap G. Padikkal stated that the charges brought by the prosecution were proven true. The defence claimed insanity, but the court dismissed it.
The ghastly incident
Dr. Vandana Das, 22, the only daughter of Mohandas and Vasanthakumar from Kaduthuruthy in Kottayam district, had completed her MBBS and was working as a house surgeon at Kottarakara Taluk Hospital.
In the early hours of May 10, 2023, Sandeep, a resident of Cherukarakonam near Kudavattur, was brought to the hospital by Pooyappally police for a medical examination. According to the prosecution, he suddenly turned violent, grabbed surgical scissors from the dressing room, and attacked the hospital staff.
Dr. Vandana was stabbed multiple times, and several others, including police personnel and hospital security staff, were injured in the attack. She was first taken to a private hospital in Kottarakara and later shifted to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where she was declared dead.
Prosecution case
According to the prosecution, Sandeep, an aided school teacher, had devised a calculated plan to escape punishment. Knowing there were injured eyewitnesses, he tried to portray himself as insane to avoid conviction. He studied psychiatry books from the Thiruvananthapuram prison library and even attempted to mislead a team of psychiatrists assessing his mental state. He tried to convince them he suffered from a chronic psychiatric condition within the schizophrenia spectrum. However, during cross-examination, the prosecution demonstrated that his claims were fabricated to create false evidence.
Shortly after the gruesome crime, police had him undergo a psychiatric evaluation that proved key to the case. Conducted three days after his arrest, the examining doctor found no signs of insanity.
On May 19, 2023, a medical board was formed, which confirmed the initial assessment. Later, the board recommended creating an expert panel to evaluate his mental state while in prison. Investigators discovered that Sandeep had deliberately tried to appear mentally ill to mislead them, noting he had behaved normally until the day before killing Dr. Vandana.
The prosecution appealed to the court to treat the case as one of the rarest of the rare, arguing that the heinous crime occurred in a hospital while the doctor was performing the noble act of saving a life. The defence countered that Sandeep had shown signs of mental disturbance before, during, and after the incident, adding that he had no prior enmity with the victims, making a murder charge under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code untenable.
Over 70 witnesses were examined, and 207 documents were presented as evidence during the trial, which began in February 2025 at the Kollam Additional Sessions Court. The prosecution had listed 131 witnesses, including doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, security staff, and police officers.
