Mattoo's vow on Priya's b'day

Jammu: Photographs and memories are all that remain of Priyadarshini Mattoo who was brutally murdered 10 syears ago. It's her 34th birth anniversary on Sunday and her 70-year-old father who ha waged a long and lonely battle for justice in the case is still fighting.

"The 10 years have been a period of trauma for the entire family. The grief and agony have never gone. Each day passes with a feeling that we have been deprived of a child who was full of wit and vigour which was ended by a psychopath," Priyadarshini's father, Chaman Lal Mattoo said.

However, Mattoo can't say which shocked him more. The murder of his daughter in 1996 or when the accused walked free.

But if death of Priyadarshini broke his heart, the judgment made him stronger.

It's been a decade since the murder but Mattoo hasn't gathered courage to enter Priyadarshini's room.

"It is very difficult to enter her room. It's still the way it was. I only take a look at it from a distance. Every morning I pray to her and thank her for giving me moral support and strength to go on," Mattoo said.

After years of disillusionment and loneliness, hope is finally knocking the doors. On Priyadarshini's birthday, more voices are joining to support the case from all over the country.

With the youth rallying for Priyadarshini's case today Mattoo only wishes to live on to see his fight to justice.

"I have taken a vow that I will not die till I get justice in this case. I am sure Priya will help the verdict come soon from Heaven and we only wish we are alive to see justice," Mattoo said.

Mattoo promised a world to his daughter, but it was a dream cut short. In the last 10 years system might have failed time and again but at 70, Matoo is a warrior, a father fighting a tireless battle for justice.

(Express your solidarity with Priyadarshini, join CNN-IBN at the rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday at 1630 hours IST)

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