A local court on Thursday convicted Kannada actor Maria Susairaj and a former Navy officer, Emile Jerome, in the case of the gruesome killing of television executive Neeraj Grover. The court convicted Jerome under section 304 (Part I) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and Maria under section 201 of the Indian Penal Code for destruction of evidence.
To the disappointment of the prosecution, neither Jerome nor Maria was held guilty of murder (under section 302 of IPC). The court mainly relied upon Maria's confession and the circumstantial evidence while giving the final order.
May walk free
The quantum of the sentence will be decided after argument on Friday, but there is a possibility that Maria will walk free as the maximum sentence slated for the offence against her is three-year imprisonment, which she has already served during the trial period.
Her lawyer requested the court to grant her bail on Thursday, but the court said it will decide on the matter after the sentence.
Jerome may face life imprisonment or imprisonment for 10 years.
Prosecution expressed shock over the verdict and said it will appeal against the judgment. “The court held that conspiracy angle could not be proven. Even I am shocked at the verdict. We will certainly go into an appeal after we get a copy of the judgment,” Public Prosecutor R.V. Kini told journalists outside the court.
The family members of Neeraj Grover too said they were disappointed. “It is a wrong verdict. This is injustice. When they [Maria and Jerome] had approached the court thrice earlier for bail, they were denied it. Now, how can they be left like that? Maria will walk around free. Is this justice?” Neelam Grover, Neeraj Grover's mother said to The Hindu from Kanpur.
“We will challenge this verdict,” she added.
Maria's brother, who was present in the court, appeared relieved. Maria appeared composed in the morning, but seemed upset by lunch time. She looked happy after the verdict.
Jerome looked slightly upset by the verdict. His father immediately consulted the lawyer after the judgment was pronounced. None of them talked to the media.
Meanwhile, the judge observed that the prosecution could not prove premeditated intention behind the murder. “For section 302 of the IPC to be applied, the prosecution has to prove that Jerome had the intention to kill Neeraj Grover. Accused no.2 [Jerome] left Kochi suddenly with no arms. The assault happened with a kitchen knife,” sessions court judge M.W. Chandwani said.
He observed that according to the confession statement, the murder happened on the spur of the moment when Jerome was provoked and he lost control.
“According to the circumstances that have been brought on record and the confession statement, it does not appear that accused no.2 [Jerome] had the intention to kill Neeraj Grover,” he said.
He said that according to the evidence brought on record, Maria was Jerome's fiancée and they intended to marry. Jerome called up Maria on the night of May 7, 2008.
“When he came to know that Neeraj Grover was with his fiancée, that might have been the reason for him to come to Mumbai,” he said.
While talking about Maria's role, he said she could have escaped being a part of the plan to destroy evidence, but she went ahead with helping Jerome in doing it. The court convicted her under section 201 of IPC for destruction of evidence.
Stabbed after altercation
The prosecution had argued in the court that after Jerome called Maria on May 7, 2008, he went to her house in Malad and got into an altercation with Neeraj Grover, and stabbed him to death. The prosecution said that both Maria and Jerome, to dispose of the evidence, cut Neeraj Grover's body into pieces and dumped it in the Manor forest. Both of them were arrested in May 2008.
