In the horrific murder case of Dr Vandana Das, Kollam Additional District and Sessions judge P. N. Vinod, on Saturday (20th March), granted life imprisonment to the convict G Sandeep. The judge sentenced him to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and stated that after he had served the period, his life imprisonment for killing Dr Das would commence. A fine of ₹2.35 lakh was imposed by the court on the convict. The prosecution, however, sought a death penalty for the convict and said that it would move an appeal against the judgment.
On March 17, 2026, the court had convicted G Sandeep of various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint. The court also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
G Sandeep, a teacher by profession, was being treated by the on-duty doctor, Dr Vanadana Das, at a taluk hospital in the Kottarakkara area of Kollam district in Kerala on May 10, 2026. He stabbed Dr Vanadana Das 27 times, inflicting stab wounds on her chest and neck. She died after a few hours at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where she was admitted after the gruesome incident.
The sessions court declined the prosecution’s plea for a death penalty for the convict, saying that the case does not fall under the rarest of the rare category to warrant capital punishment. The court noted the convict’s words where he said that he would spend the rest of his life in repentance, and said that there was a scope of reformation in him. “At the same time, I agree with the stand of the prosecution to the effect that the sentence should be commensurate with the gravity of the crime and the sentence should not only be reformative, but should also have a deterrent effect,” the judge remarked when granting him a life sentence. “In my view, the said objective can be achieved by directing that the term sentences that will be imposed will run consecutively and the life sentence that has to be imposed will commence only after the expiration of the term sentences,” the judge added.
After the judgment, special public prosecutor (SPP) Prathap G Padickal spoke to the media outside the court and said that he would suggest the prosecution file an appeal and seek a death penalty. The victim’s father expressed relief over the verdict, but said that he was not sure if his daughter got justice. He was not satisfied with the punishment granted to the murderer and sought an enhancement of the punishment.
What was the case
G Sandeep placed an emergency call at 112 in the wee hours of May 10, 2023, claiming that his life was in danger. The police located him close to his house, surrounded by locals. He had a wound on his leg, which he reportedly sustained after a fight.
Police took G Sandeep to the taluk hospital for medical treatment. As his leg injury was being dressed, he suddenly grabbed a pair of surgical scissors and attacked the cops present there. Then, he turned to Dr Vandana Das and stabbed her multiple times. She later succumbed to her injuries while undergoing medical treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
Dr Das, a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district, was the only child of her parents. She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her medical training.
