Victims a bit relieved after Delhi High Court verdict

New Delhi: The life sentence to Sajjan Kumar was also the result of the persistence of two women Jagdish Kaur and Nirpreet Kaur who lost their family members in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Jagdish Kaur, 77, who can barely walk, was in the Delhi High Court to see the judges convict Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the 34-year-old case of the murder of five members of her family during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She lost her husband, elder son and three cousins in the carnage that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

"Thoda sukoon mila hai, (a bit relieved) but he should have been given the death penalty. People should know that you won't get away if you commit such heinous crimes. My 19-year-old son was burnt in front of my eyes. I lost my husband, son and three cousins in the carnage. I have seen my community bleed to death. That gave me the strength to fight the case," said Jagdish Kaur whose eyes turned moist after the court's verdict. Jagdish Kaur also said that she was also lured and tried to be bribed but she was firm on her decision to pursue the case till its final conclusion.

Another witness in the case Nirpreet Kaur was only 16 when she saw her father being burnt alive by an uncontrolled mob near a Gurdwara in Delhi's Raj Nagar on November 1, 1984. Her father was the head priest at the Gurdwara. She too was not able to hold back her tears as she recalled the ordeal she faced during 1984. "Cases were filed against me and I was jailed. My mother too wasn't spared. She too had to spend three years in jail, this verdict is some relief. I could never forget how my father was brutally murdered," she said.

The high court, which set aside the ruling of the trial court acquitting Kumar, said the accused in the case were brought to justice "primarily on account of the courage and perseverance of three eyewitnesses" –Jagdish Kaur, her cousin Jagsher Singh and Narpreet Kaur.