Justice for Priyadarshini, Jessica and now Nitish

JUSTICE PREVAILS: It's the third sensational case involving nationwide public campaigns and continuous media focus.

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Keywords: Priyadarshini Matto, Jessica Lall

New Delhi: The guilty verdict against Vikas Yadav and Vishal Yadav, the cousins accused of murdering young business executive Nitish Katara, is the third famous crime case involving powerful suspects and a spirited public campaign for justice.

A nationwide public campaign, backed up by continuous media focus, is believed to have led convictions in the Priyadarshini Matto and the Jessica Lal murder cases.

Lawyer Santosh Kumar Singh, son of a retired IPS officer, has been sentenced to death for raping and killing law student Priyadarshini in 1996.

Priyadarshini’s father Chaman Lal Mattoo, an elderly and ailing man, fought for six years before finally ensuring that her killer was punished.

The Delhi High Court, while convicting Singh in October 2006, severely criticized the lower court which acquitted him and the investigating authorities in the case.

Then in December 2006, Manu Sharma, son of former Haryana minister Venod Sharma, was found guilty of murdering model Jessica Lall.

Jessica was shot dead in the early hours of April 30, 1999, at a restaurant in Delhi when she refused to serve Sharma liquor.

A trial court had acquitted all the nine accused in the case but the case was reopened when police challenged the acquittal after a public outcry.

This case too was marked by a long-drawn trial, media focus and the Lall family’s refusal to drop their fight.