IANS
New Delhi, Apr 30: Exactly eight years after she was brutally killed, friends and supporters of slain model Jessica Lall turned up at her cemetery on Monday to say a prayer for her - and also laud her sister Sabrina who tirelessly battled on for justice.
The landmark case in which the public and the media rallied around the Lall family to help bring the culprits to book is only too fresh in India's memory.
"I wish I could see Jessica but that will never happen again. She is history now and I can only cry," an emotionally choked Sabrina told IANS.
Jessica Lall and Sabrina
"I and a few of Jessica's and my close friends and family members visited her cemetery, put flowers and prayed that her innocent soul may lie in peace. We have been doing this every year."
Jessica, who was tending the bar at a party in the Tamarind Court restaurant in south Delhi owned by businesswoman and socialite Bina Ramani, was shot dead on the night of April 29-30, 1999 by Manu Sharma, the son of a powerful and wealthy politician, because she refused to serve him alcohol.
What happened thereafter is history. Hostile witnesses and the crushing power of the high and mighty nearly choked the lifeline of hope that the Lall family was hanging on to.
As the years rolled by, Jessica's parents also died - her father Ajit Lall who suffered a fatal stroke as recently as 2006 did not live to see justice done, leaving Sabrina to fight the battle.
Undaunted, Sabrina carried on. But this time she was not alone. A nation that was shocked at the power of the wealthy, decided to back her with all its might.
Thereon started SMS campaigns, a petition signed by more than 200,000 people, candlelight vigils at India Gate, media campaigns, demanding justice. The support that Sabrina got overwhelmed and rejuvenated her fighting spirit.
In the end, Delhi High Court sentenced prime accused Manu Sharma to life imprisonment December 20, 2006, and two other accomplices and co-accused, Vikas Yadav and Amardeep Singh Gill, to four years each in jail.
Talking about model-turned-actor Shayan Munshi, who was a witness in the case but turned hostile, said: "He was a big liar and now is caught between his lies. The court has taken due note of hostile witnesses in my sister's case and I am sure they will be punished.
"Due to such backtracking by witnesses many families in India have failed to receive justice. This trend needs to change," she said.
Aditya Raj Kaul of Youth for Equality, a forum of young people who initiated various candle light vigils and campaigns in the Jessica Lall case, said: "Witnesses to a case must be given protection so that they don't backtrack due to some threat".
He said public activism is very important. The turnarounds in the Jessica Lall case or the similar Priyadarshini Mattoo case, to great extent can be attributed to the strong backing of the public, he pointed out.
"On Jessica's eighth death anniversary, we pay tribute to her innocent soul and salute her brave sister Sabrina. We are always with her," Kaul added.
Case History: from Daijiworld Archives