A day after the parents of murdered journalist Soumya Viswanathan wrote to the Delhi chief minister outlining their concerns with the trial of their daughter’s death which is in its tenth year, ANI reported that the Delhi chief minister ordered his chief secretary to appoint a special prosecutor at the earliest.
Reacting to this news that The Quint broke to Viswanathan’s parents, her mother, Madhavi Viswanathan, said, “This is a very good move, I am glad that it has been done. However, this is just an order, we shall wait to see how long it takes to materialise.”
Soumya was shot dead on 30 September 2008, when she was returning home in her car from office in the wee hours. She had last spoken to her father around 3:30 am and informed them she would be late as she had to work on a news bulletin in Maharashtra’s Malegaon.
Soumya’s Parents Want ‘Concrete Steps’
In the letter sent on 6 February, Soumya's father wrote that he and his family were tired of the "hollow assurances" from authorities, and expressed hope from a "concrete response" from him. Five people were arrested in 2009 on charges of murder and are presently in custody.
"Over this period, there have been changes in courts, judges and public prosecutors more than once," MK Viswanathan, Soumya's father, writes in the letter. Currently, the trial is being conducted in Saket’s district court. Attached below is the letter which was also sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“We are seriously concerned about both, the pace at which the trial is moving as well as the quality of efforts being put in the proceedings by the prosecution. Hollow assurances from authorities have tired us out and we sincerely hope for a concrete response from you at the earliest.”Soumya Viswanathan’s father to CM
Concerns Regarding Public Prosecutor
One of the major concerns the parents had was regarding the change in the public prosecutor. They said they were concerned as he, once again, was “absent from the court on the date of the last hearing (2 February)". They also added that unlike the first prosecutor on the case, the current and the previous ones have been "unresponsive" in providing updates to the family regarding the progress in the case. The family is currently based out of Mumbai but travel to and fro for the trial.
The parents said while the initial investigations into the case were satisfactory, over time, the interest in it withered. “With time, as the media visibility of the case went down, so did the interest of the state in getting us justice,” they said.
Soumya’s parents said they were disheartened to see "a meandering sense of apathy" with which the proceedings are taking place.
Murder Accused Lawyer Also Asks for Speedy Trial
In 2009, the police arrested Ravi Kapoor, Amit Shukla, Baljeet Malik, Ajay Kumar and Ajay Sethi under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and under the provisions of MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act). They have been in judicial custody since March 2009.
Advocate Amit Kumar, who is representing two of the five accused in the case, said, "We all are looking for a speedy conclusion of the trial because the delay is killing everybody. It is not in the interest of everybody and society at large. The accused are in custody for almost 10 years. The judge is trying to expedite the matter and we are hopeful it will be concluded in the next six months."
The next hearing is scheduled on 13 February.
(With inputs from PTI)
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