No Amount of Jail Time Is Enough: Vidya on Manu Sharma’s Release

Vidya Balan, who played Jessica Lall’s sister in No One Killed Jessica, reacts to Manu Sharma’s release.

Vidya Balan in a still from No One Killed Jessica.

(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)

Convicted in the 1999 Jessica Lall murder case, Manu Sharma was released from Tihar Jail on Monday, 1 June, on grounds of “good behaviour”. In an interview with The Quint, Vidya Balan, who essayed the role of Jessica’s sister Sabrina in No One Killed Jessica, opened up about the verdict.

“Personally speaking, I don’t think any amount of time for him or for people like him in jail is enough. So that will always play in my mind. Yes, maybe he has turned a new leaf. I hope he has. I hope he is a reformed person”.

Vidya Balan, Actor

Vidya added that that’s all someone can hope for. “So that’s all one can hope you know, after spending so much time in jail. That is the point of being in prison, right? That you reform. So let us hope that has happened.”

Manu Sharma, also known as Siddartha Vashishta, is the son of then Haryana Congress leader Venod Sharma. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006 for shooting 34-year-old Jessica Lall on 30 May 1999, after she refused to serve him liquor.

Raj Kumar Gupta, in his film No One Killed Jessica, brought forth the struggles of Sabrina as she ran from pillar to post trying to get her sister justice.