Sex, Lies and Murder

Every once in a while, passion goes horribly wrong. Sometimes it is unrequited love that leads to blinding anger. Sometimes it is betrayal. Sometimes it is the fear of comebacks. Sometimes it is about a misplaced sense of honour or dishonour. It could be mindless murder or cold-blooded and planned. It has happened for time immemorial. History records crimes of passion, great literature feeds off such moments.

In recent times, such tales have been told and retold in and outside the nation's courtrooms. The details are often bizarre, bone-chilling, shaking the conscience as they play out, frame by frame, on television sets. No room for fiction here, just hard facts.

Neeraj Grover, Nitish Katara, Priyadarshini Mattoo, Naina Sahni. They were never celebrities. Only victims who became famous in the most unfortunate manner possible . Read their story here…

Maria Susairaj, once a Kannada actress, was found at her Mumbai home in May, 2008 with Neeraj Grover, a young TV producer. Maria was at that time engaged to naval officer Emile Jerome Mathew. On the night of May 6, Jerome called Maria and heard a man's voice in the background. He flew from the Kochi naval base to Mumbai early morning on May 7 and arrived at Maria's flat between 7 and 7.30am.

Consumed by jealousy, Jerome, as he is known, killed Neeraj using a knife from Maria's kitchen. The actor says he then raped her. Later, Jerome sent Maria to a nearby mall to buy bags, air fresheners, and a knife.

Maria's lawyers say Jerome threatened her into assisting him get rid of Neeraj's body. The producer was chopped into small pieces with the knife Maria returned home with. Bags packed with parts of his corpse were taken by the couple in a friend's car to another suburb where they were set on fire.

On May 8, Neeraj's father, Amarnath Grover, arrived in Mumbai and filed a complaint with the police that his son was missing. 2 weeks later, the police arrested Jerome and Maria. The actor allegedly confessed to the crime and also led the cops to Neeraj's body. A gold chain and locket helped Neeraj's parents identify his remains.

In 2011, Maria was found guilty of destruction of evidence and sentenced to three years in prison. The time she has already spent in prison was adjusted against this sentence. She now walks free.

Jerome was sentenced to 10 years in prison for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The judge in a Mumbai court said Jerome had not planned Neeraj's murder and that “Obviously any fiancé who finds another man with his fiancée will get upset and lose control.”

Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra was a 1959 court case where Nanavati, a Naval Commander, was tried for the murder of Prem Ahuja, his wife's lover. With Nanavati frequently away on assignments, the lonely Sylvia fell in love with Prem Bhagwandas Ahuja, a friend of Nanavati.

On April 27, 1959, Nanavati returned home from one of his assignments and finding Sylvia aloof and distant, he questioned her. Sylvia, who now doubted Ahuja's intention to marry her, confessed about the affair to her husband. (Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com)

Nanavati went to the Naval base, collected his pistol on a false pretext from the stores along with six cartridges, completed his official duties and proceeded to Ahuja's office. On not finding him there went straight to his flat.

At Ahuja's residence, Nanavati confronted him and asked him whether he intended to marry Sylvia and accept their children. After Ahuja replied in the negative, three shots were fired and Ahuja dropped dead. (Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com)

Nanavati headed straight to confess to the Provost Marshal of the Western Naval Command and on his advice, turned himself in to the Deputy Commissioner of Police. The jury in the Greater Bombay Sessions court pronounced Nanavati as not guilty.

In the Bombay High Court, the defence put forth their version of the incident, for which there were no witnesses other than the two men. The High Court agreed with the prosecution's argument that the murder was premeditated and sentenced Nanavati to life imprisonment for culpable homicide amounting to murder.

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction. (Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com)

Nanavati spent three years in prison. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, then governor of Maharashtra, pardoned Nanavati. After his release, Nanavati, along with his family went to Canada. Nanavati died in 2003. (Image courtesy: Mid-Day.com)

Nitish Katara was a 24-year-old business executive in Delhi, who was murdered in February 2002 by Vikas Yadav, the son of influential politician DP Yadav. Vikas was opposed to Nitish's alleged relationship with his sister Bharti Yadav, who was studying with Nitish at the Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad. Nitish had received death threats several times.

On the night of February 17, 2002, he and Bharti attended a common friend's wedding, where Vikas Yadav was also present.

He, along with his brother Vishal Yadav, took Nitish for a drive, and never returned. Three days later, Nitish's body was found beside a highway; he had been battered to death with a hammer, diesel poured on him, and set aflame.

In both her police statement and her emails in the days after Nitish Katara's death, Bharti Yadav blamed her father D P Yadav and brother Vikas Yadav for kidnapping and killing Nitish. But a few days later, Bharti spoke to NDTV saying "Nitish was just a friend" and denied that her brother knew Nitish. She also denied dating him. After a series of witnesses turning hostile, evidences being forged and facts being distorted, Vikas Yadav was finally sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Nitish Katara in 2008. He is currently in Tihar jail.

Priyadarshini Mattoo, a 23-year-old law student was raped and strangled with an electric wire by Santosh Singh, her senior at college, at her home in Vasant Kunj in Delhi in January 1996. Santosh later battered Priyadarshini's face with his motorcycle helmet.

In 1995, a year before she died, Priyadarshini had complained that Santosh Singh was stalking her.

Critical DNA tests that linked Singh to the rape and murder were rejected by the trial court and then later accepted by the Delhi High Court. Both courts had agreed that the police were reluctant to follow up on Priyadarshini's complaints against Singh because his father was a senior police officer.

The High Court slammed the police, stating that the rule of law "is not meant for those who enforce the law nor for their near relatives".

The Supreme Court gave life imprisonment to Santosh Singh in October 2010.

The 14-year fight for justice became symbolic of India's frustration with a system that seemed to let off the hook - literally get away with murder - those with powerful connections.

In July, 1995, Sushil Sharma, a Congress party leader, reached his flat in the Gole Market area of New Delhi and found his 26-year-old wife Naina Sahani, who also worked at the Congress party, talking on phone with someone.

Suspecting that she was talking to Matloob Karim, her fellow employee, Sharma got enraged and shot her.

Naina succumbed to her bullet injuries in the head and the neck.

Sushil Sharma then took Naina's body in his car to Bagia Restaurant in Ashoka Yatri Niwas, close to Parliament House, which was being run by him on contract with the India Tourism Development Corporation. Upon reaching there, he asked his manager to destroy the dead body in the 'tandoor'. The body was chopped into pieces and burnt in it.

However, the smoke and flames emanating from the 'tandoor' at the open-air restaurant caught the attention of people. Police later retrieved charred body parts from the oven of the restaurant.

Ashoka Yatri Niwas now has been turned into a luxury hotel, Ramada Plaza, in the Capital.

Sushil Sharma was sentenced to death in 2003 and the Delhi high court upheld the lower courts' decision. His appeal against the death sentence in the Supreme Court is pending.

Amit Budhiraja was a 30-year-old software engineer from Delhi who was working with Infosys. According to colleagues, Amit was known to be a gentleman and maintained good relations with everyone at work.

Amit doubted that his wife was having an affair with one of her colleagues and he had heard her talking to him on phone a number of times. Following a heated argument and a scuffle between the couple, Amit suffocated Rinku to death using a pillow.

Madhumita Shukla, a budding poetess in Lucknow, was found murdered at her Lucknow flat on May 9, 2003. She was allegedly in a relationship with former Uttar Pradesh minister Amarmani Tripathi and the post-mortem report revealed that Madhumita was pregnant at the time of her murder, allegedly with Amarmani's child.

Madhumita was allegedly murdered at the behest of Madhumani , Amarmani Tripathi's wife who was opposed to her affair with her husband.

The case was being taken care of by the CB - CID.

In October 2007, Amarmani Tripathi, his wife Madhumani and two others were held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Madhumita Shukla.

They are currently lodged in Gorakhpur jail, where they are reportedly said to be leading a carefree life.

Shivani Bhatnagar, a journalist working for the Indian Express newspaper, was murdered on January 23, 1999. Indian Police Service officer Ravi Kant Sharma was charged with the murder by the Delhi Police. She was at home alone with her infant son, when the murder took place. Sharma surrendered to the police in 2002, after being in hiding for a long time. He confessed to the police that he was acquainted with Shivani since the days that he had been posted as OSD to the then Prime Minister I K Gujral and she had been covering the PMO as a correspondent with the Indian Express.

Sharma and his wife, Madhu, have alleged that Bhatnagar's murder was orchestrated by the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. IPS officer R K Sharma along with three other accused in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case were convicted by a Delhi Court in March 2008. He is serving life imprisonment in Tihar jail currently.

In December 2002, twenty eight-year-old Pratibha Murthy, who had recently got married, left for the night shift at a call centre where she worked. A different driver showed up to collect her.

Shiva Kumar, the driver, told her that the usual driver who was rostered for that night was on leave, and that he was the replacement.

He then took her to a deserted area on the outskirts of Bangalore and raped and killed her. Shiva Kumar's wife was seven months into her pregnancy when Pratibha was murdered.

The trial revealed that Shiva Kumar had tried to collect two women that same night before Pratibha. The first had already left for work when he phoned her; the second found it strange that he did not know the directions to her house, and chose not to use him for her ride to work.

In October 2010, Shiva Kumar was sentenced to life in prison. Pratibha's family wanted the death sentence for him.

Pratibha's death forced the BPO industry to drastically revamp the security it provides for women employees. Now, security guards are sent in cabs with women working on the night shift.

Pushkin Chandra, a 38-year-old son of a retired IAS officer and his friend Kuldeep were killed on the intervening night of August 13-14, 2004, at Chandra's residence at Anand Lok area in South Delhi.

Pushkin was stabbed to death by two men who claimed that he used to blackmail them after photographing them naked.

The accused duo then decamped with various goods including a DVD player and a wristwatch in Chandra's car.

A Delhi court awarded rigorous life imprisonment to the two accused in March 2010 and termed the act as 'ghastly and brutal'.