Click to play videoLaw student Priyadarshini was raped and murdered in her South Delhi home on January 23, 1996. Santosh Kumar Singh, the son of an IPS officer, was in December 1999 acquitted of killing her.
The CBI, after consulting legal experts, recently decided to file an appeal in the Delhi High Court for a speedy trial. But Chamanlal Mattoo feels that a trial now will be based on facts that aren’t true.
"The investigation was shoddy and the trial judge himself pointed this out, so there's an absolute need for re-investigation and retrial," said Chamanlal.
Chamanlal is not convinced by the CBI’s efforts, and years of fruitless wait have made him bitter and disillusioned. "What happened to the in-house probe into the investigation? To be transparent, it has to be made public," he says.
Chamanlal gets strength to fight because of help from people like Aditya Raj Kaul, a Class XII student who has started a signature campaign on the Internet for Priyadarshini.
"More than 3,000 people have signed the petition, I have got a tremendous response; many NGOs have also joined hands. I plan to meet Mr Mattoo soon," said Kaul.
When the trial judged acquitted Santosh Kumar, he had said: "Though I know he is the man who committed the crime, I acquit him, giving him the benefit of the doubt."
Chamanlal and Kaul believe a fresh investigation will collect evidence and enable the court to get to the truth of the matter this time.
With Pawan Bali in Jammu
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.