Three years after TV executive Neeraj Grover was brutally murdered, a Mumbai court has found small-time Kannada actress Maria Susairaj not guilty of murder, but of destroying evidence. It has held her boyfriend Emile Jerome Mathew, a Navy Lieutenant, guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and of destroying evidence. This carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
In May 2008, engaged couple Naval Officer Emile Mathew and small-time Kannada actress Maria Susairaj were arrested for the brutal murder of Neeraj Grover. (
Read: Who was Neeraj Grover?)
The prosecution had alleged that Matthew killed Grover on discovering him at Maria's home early morning on May 7, 2008. Grover was murdered in Maria's apartment in suburban Mumbai and his body was allegedly chopped into several pieces, put into two bags by Mathew and Maria, who then drove to Manor in neighbouring Thane district, where they burnt the body to dispose it.
Neeraj's father, Amarnath Grover, an elderly man who has fought for justice for three years, is devastated and has termed the verdict "very disappointing". Before the verdict he had said: "He was very sharp, dynamic and creative. He was in Mumbai for the last one year. Maria came in touch with him at the time of Mahabharata auditions. On the night of 6th May, she had called him over to her place and since then we have no clue about him. She has conspired against him. She should be given death sentence," says his father. (
Watch: Verdict very disappointing, says Neeraj Grover's father)
Maria's lawyer said the crime that his client had been found guilty of carries a maximum punishment of three years in prison. Maria, he said had been a "victim of circumstances", had already been in jail that long and so should be released immediately. "She will come out tomorrow," he said, describing the verdict as a "victory of truth." (
Watch: Happy with the verdict, says Maria Susairaj's lawyer)
The lawyer said Maria had played no role in the murder and had actually tried to stop Mathew killing Neeraj.
The hearing began in April 2009 and has been based on circumstantial and scientific evidence. It has ended with Maria and Matthew blaming each other.