Yet another innocent 20 year old was murdered in New Delhi in cold blood.The perpetrator of this heinous crime did committed this act in broad daylight on a busy road.24 hours on,we still do not have any eye witnesses willing to come forward!
The police have requested the public to come forward and help them in their investigations.Massive outrage seems to be the prevalent sentiment if the Twitter is anything to go by.But so far not one witness has come forward and volunteered information.
Ironically one of the recent film releases was NO ONE KILLED JESSICA;a poignant tale of a sister's fight to bring the killer of her sister to justice.Unless we are living on a different planet,we will all recognize the name Jessica Lall and will have some passing familiarity with the tragic case.
Jessica Lall was a young model and actress who used to moonlight as a barmaid to supplement her earnings.One evening while she was about to shut the bar as it was past closing hours,she was accosted by Manu Sharma,a spoilt son of a rich and powerful politician who asked her for a drink.She refused to oblige without realizing the consequences.Manu brought out a pistol and shot her in cold blood right in the presence of at least 50 guests and employees.Then he convieniently walked out of the bar with a friend drove off.
The whole case was widely publicised so we all are in a position to know what happened next!Manu's father,Venod Sharma,an ex-Central minister and the brother of the son-in-law of a former President of India(SD Sharma)left no stone unturned to subvert the course of justice.Even the very few witnesses who had given statements about Manu's culpability turned hostile in the Court!The expert ballistic witness presented an incoherent and nonsensical piffle to make sure that Manu would be acquitted.The police officer in charge indulged in actions that brought the already beleagured police into further disrepute.Manu as expected was acquitted in the lower court.Had it not been for a crusading judge in the Delhi High Court who seized himself of the matter,and after a serious re-examination reversed the acquittal,Manu would be a free man today.It is also worthwhile pointing out that the lower court judge who acquitted Manu today has been elevated to the High Court despite stinging observations against him by the High Court.
And what happened to the other dramatis personae.Well for starters Venod Sharma remains a powerful Congressman close to Sonia Gandhi,was re-elected an MLA on a Congress ticket and then made a minister.While this did raise some uproar,the Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi who has legal and more worryingly moral pretences aggressively defended Venod as a moral person on the TV!!When the situation became unsustainable after stinging Court indictments,Sonia Gandhi in order to save her own skin forced him to resign.That did not prevent the father and son duo from persisting in their efforts to make a mockery of the whole penal system.Manu was released on parole as he claimed his mother was ill.That very evening he was spotted in a disco drinking away and indulging in brawls.While he was forced to return to the prison,not a single word of explanation of this conduct has been forthcoming let alone an apology!It is a fair bet that this pattern of monkeying the justice system would persist in this case.
I have illustrated this case as a glaring example of why people have lost faith in the police and their inclination to uphold the law.I shall not even try to go into the details of equally heinous cases like the gruesome murder of Nitish Katara by the son of a powerful politician or that of the loathsome murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo by the son of a senior police officer.We all know the twists and turns the cases took before public outcry forced the system of justice.
Perverse though it may appear,but I get the feeling that somehow the relatives of these were relatively more fortunate than some.For instance how many of us recall the unfortunate man who was murdered by the police officers on the Diwali eve!The case has not yet captured public attention.
We would do well to remember the then Police Commissioner RS Gupta's brazen defence of his murderous police officers in the last case.We should also not forget that Gupta it was who defended his police officers who concocted a case of murder against a poor person and had him locked up without bail for 9 months-the person alleged to have been murdered turned up alive-and we can safely assume it was not a return journey from heaven!
And if you are wondering whether Gupta was forced to resign as he should have been,I have news for you.He lives in comfortable retirement entertaining powerful politicians at his place.
Let me now digress from these cases of homicide and deal with the general principle of equality before law that is supposed to operate in our country.Recall someone called Ottavio Quattrocci!A proven swindler and a cheat if the Income Tax Tribunal Report is to gob,he was allowed to slip from the country to Milan in the dead of the night,his monkeying of the judicial system willingly tolerated,opportunities to get him back to India willfully squandered and disgracefully obsequious minister deputed to release all his money which had been frozen.This minister by the way is now the Governor of Karnataka.Quattrocci is living a life of luxury in Milan.
And why was this done;to appease Sonia Gandhi as he was her personal friend!Ottavio's son Massimo still visits India and stays with Sonia!!
The point that I am trying to make here is that people at large have lost all confidence in the police's ability or motivation to the right thing and withstand political pressures.Remember SPS Rathore and what happened to the witness in that unfortunate case!
I sincerely hope that the latest victim's family get justice and witnesses do come forward.But if they are not doing so now it is because they have lost faith in the police more than any other reason!!
