‘With this, Soumya too got justice’

Even though journalist Soumya Vishwanathan, who was killed almost six months before IT executive Jigisha Ghosh by the same culprits, awaits justice; for her mother, Jigisha was like her own daughter and on Monday, when the latter’s murderers were sentenced, a mother’s heart has all the more reason to believe that justice has been delayed but definitely not denied.

After a city court announced punishment for those who killed Jigisha, Soumya’s family is relaxed and regained their faith on the judiciary believing that they will also get justice soon.

Speaking to Millennium Post, Soumya’s mother Madhuri said: “Jigisha is also my daughter. The accused who have killed her had first killed my daughter Soumya. As the accused in Jigisha’s murder case got convicted and have been awarded death sentence and life imprisonment, it means the court has punished Soumya’s murderers as well.” She further added: “After this judgement, there is a hope that Soumya’s case will too get solved and it will be fast-tracked.” 

It is important to mention that in August 2015, almost a year after the trial had come to a standstill, Soumya’s father M K Vishwanathan, approached Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and requested him to appoint a prosecutor in the case. In November last year, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung re-appointed Rajeev Mohan as a special prosecutor in the case. Rajeev Mohan is also a special prosecutor in Jigisha’s murder case.

But despite the re-appointment of special prosecutor, M K Vishwanathan believed that the trial has not picked up pace.

Initially, Delhi Police were unable to trace the culprits behind Soumya’s murder but after Jigisha’s murder in 2009, the cops got a lead and have arrested three accused — Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik and Ravi Kapoor. Later it was learnt that the trio along with one Ajay had killed Soumya in 2008.

The trio accused also admitted to killing Mohammed Nadeem, a taxi driver, in January 2009, whose 

family is also waiting for justice, as the government had not appointed a special prosecutor. It would be apt to highlight that in Soumya’s case, the testimony of only 15 prosecution witnesses have been recorded in the sessions court. On an average, only one hearing takes place once in two months. 

The case was further delayed when Special Public Prosecutor Rajeev Mohan opted for private practice in October, 2014 and for almost a year, no public prosecutor was appointed by the state. In November last year, Rajeev Mohan was re-appointed as special prosecutor in the case.

In the current scenario, the prosecution witnesses in the case do not turn up during hearings as most of them are police witnesses and are often involved in other investigations.