Mumbai, July 1 (Agencies): Held guilty only for destroying evidence in the brutal murder of television executive Neeraj Grover three years ago, small-time Kannada actress Maria Susairaj can walk free anytime as a Mumbai court on Friday sentenced her to three years in jail – time she has already served as an undertrial. The maximum time for her conviction is three years. Her boyfriend, former Navy officer Emile Jerome Mathew – convicted of ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ – was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The sentence was pronounced after the judge heard arguments by the prosecution and the defence on the quantum of punishment. The prosecution had sought life sentence for Jerome. Neeraj’s grieving father Amarnath Grover described the sentence as an acquittal for Maria. “Why were Jerome and Maria given different sentences, when both were there when Neeraj was killed and his body brutally disposed of,” he asked. On Thursday, the Mumbai court had absolved the two of murder and held them guilty of lesser offences as the Mumbai Police failed to conclusively prove the motive behind the crime.
Jerome was convicted of ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ under Section 304 (part I) IPC which attracts a life term in jail or imprisonment up to 10 years. Both he and Maria were also found guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence under section 201 IPC which provides for a maximum three years in jail. Grover’s murder was the most brutal that Mumbai had seen in sometime. He was killed on May 7, 2008 at Maria’s flat in Malad, his body chopped to pieces, carried in two plastic bags and dumped in the jungles in the outskirts of Thane. While delivering the verdict, the court observed that Jerome had acted in a spur of the moment and there was no premeditation to kill Grover.
“When he entered the room he was calm. This showed he did not have the intention (to murder). Obviously for a fiance, in a situation where he finds a stranger with his partner, would upset a prudent man and he would lose control,” Sessions Court Judge N W Chandwani had said yesterday. The court accepted the confession of Maria which she said was voluntary; she had passed on the blame on Jerome for Grover’s death. The court held Maria guilty of trying to destroy evidence, saying she had gone alone to the market to buy curtains and a knife and also to borrow car from a friend to dispose of the body. “She could have run away but chose to wipe out evidence.”
The duo had replaced the bloodstained curtains with new ones which Maria bought soon after the murder. The prosecution’s case was that Maria had arrived in Mumbai from Bangalore to try her luck in the entertainment industry and came into contact with Grover, working with a production house. Grover promised to give her a break. Prosecutor Kini examined 48 witnesses including the man who painted the house after the murder to wipe out bloodstains and the owner of the car used to dispose of the body.
Maria’s lawyer argued she was not in the apartment when Grover was murdered and said she had met the deceased only three days before his death. Denying the actress had a physical relationship with Grover, Shaikh said Maria was still a ‘virgin’ and police should have ascertained that by medically examining her. Maria told the court that the police had detained her brother and sister and forced her to make a confession. According to the prosecution, Jerome had gone to Maria’s residence in suburban Malad on May 7, 2008 where he got into a fight with Grover, 26, during which the naval officer stabbed the victim to death. Susairaj and Jerome later cut the body into pieces and disposed it of in Manor forest in neighbouring Thane.
Both accused had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, common intent and causing disappearance of evidence. The court did not accept the prosecution’s case that Jerome had come to Mumbai from Kochi to kill Grover and also that there was a conspiracy to murder him. Public prosecutor R V Kini said the court had accepted that part of Maria’s confession which described what transpired in her house when Grover was killed because there were no eyewitnesses present.
Grover was the brain behind the quiz show ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain?’ hosted by Shah Rukh Khan. Reacting to the judgement, Public prosecutor R V Kini expressed shock and said they would challenge it in the High Court. Noted criminal lawyer Majid Memom said the judgement was an enormous error. Absolving Susairaj was also wrong because of the way she behaved after the murder in buying a knife and later hacking the body into several pieces, he said.
The sentence was pronounced after the judge heard arguments by the prosecution and the defence on the quantum of punishment. The prosecution had sought life sentence for Jerome. Neeraj’s grieving father Amarnath Grover described the sentence as an acquittal for Maria. “Why were Jerome and Maria given different sentences, when both were there when Neeraj was killed and his body brutally disposed of,” he asked. On Thursday, the Mumbai court had absolved the two of murder and held them guilty of lesser offences as the Mumbai Police failed to conclusively prove the motive behind the crime.
Jerome was convicted of ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ under Section 304 (part I) IPC which attracts a life term in jail or imprisonment up to 10 years. Both he and Maria were also found guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence under section 201 IPC which provides for a maximum three years in jail. Grover’s murder was the most brutal that Mumbai had seen in sometime. He was killed on May 7, 2008 at Maria’s flat in Malad, his body chopped to pieces, carried in two plastic bags and dumped in the jungles in the outskirts of Thane. While delivering the verdict, the court observed that Jerome had acted in a spur of the moment and there was no premeditation to kill Grover.
“When he entered the room he was calm. This showed he did not have the intention (to murder). Obviously for a fiance, in a situation where he finds a stranger with his partner, would upset a prudent man and he would lose control,” Sessions Court Judge N W Chandwani had said yesterday. The court accepted the confession of Maria which she said was voluntary; she had passed on the blame on Jerome for Grover’s death. The court held Maria guilty of trying to destroy evidence, saying she had gone alone to the market to buy curtains and a knife and also to borrow car from a friend to dispose of the body. “She could have run away but chose to wipe out evidence.”
The duo had replaced the bloodstained curtains with new ones which Maria bought soon after the murder. The prosecution’s case was that Maria had arrived in Mumbai from Bangalore to try her luck in the entertainment industry and came into contact with Grover, working with a production house. Grover promised to give her a break. Prosecutor Kini examined 48 witnesses including the man who painted the house after the murder to wipe out bloodstains and the owner of the car used to dispose of the body.
Maria’s lawyer argued she was not in the apartment when Grover was murdered and said she had met the deceased only three days before his death. Denying the actress had a physical relationship with Grover, Shaikh said Maria was still a ‘virgin’ and police should have ascertained that by medically examining her. Maria told the court that the police had detained her brother and sister and forced her to make a confession. According to the prosecution, Jerome had gone to Maria’s residence in suburban Malad on May 7, 2008 where he got into a fight with Grover, 26, during which the naval officer stabbed the victim to death. Susairaj and Jerome later cut the body into pieces and disposed it of in Manor forest in neighbouring Thane.
Both accused had been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, common intent and causing disappearance of evidence. The court did not accept the prosecution’s case that Jerome had come to Mumbai from Kochi to kill Grover and also that there was a conspiracy to murder him. Public prosecutor R V Kini said the court had accepted that part of Maria’s confession which described what transpired in her house when Grover was killed because there were no eyewitnesses present.
Grover was the brain behind the quiz show ‘Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain?’ hosted by Shah Rukh Khan. Reacting to the judgement, Public prosecutor R V Kini expressed shock and said they would challenge it in the High Court. Noted criminal lawyer Majid Memom said the judgement was an enormous error. Absolving Susairaj was also wrong because of the way she behaved after the murder in buying a knife and later hacking the body into several pieces, he said.
Ramgopal to cast Maria as heroine
MUMBAI, july 1 (Agencies): After making a film inspired from the Neeraj Grover murder case, director Ramgopal Varma is all set to cast the alleged conspirator in the case, Maria Susairaj, as a heroine in his film. Varma known for taking potshots at people tweeted, “she has been released now I want to make a film with Maria Susairaj. Maria Susairaj wanted to become famous as an actress but she became famous as a murderess. If things went well it could’ve been a Rangeela for her.” Varma has been crticised by Neeraj Grover’s father Amarnath Grover for making a film on his son’s murder. Neeraj’s sister has alleged that the director has not even bothered to take permission from them before making the film. Ramgopal Varma, on his part, continues to maintain that it is the incident that inspired him and the film was not based on the murder case.
MUMBAI, july 1 (Agencies): After making a film inspired from the Neeraj Grover murder case, director Ramgopal Varma is all set to cast the alleged conspirator in the case, Maria Susairaj, as a heroine in his film. Varma known for taking potshots at people tweeted, “she has been released now I want to make a film with Maria Susairaj. Maria Susairaj wanted to become famous as an actress but she became famous as a murderess. If things went well it could’ve been a Rangeela for her.” Varma has been crticised by Neeraj Grover’s father Amarnath Grover for making a film on his son’s murder. Neeraj’s sister has alleged that the director has not even bothered to take permission from them before making the film. Ramgopal Varma, on his part, continues to maintain that it is the incident that inspired him and the film was not based on the murder case.
