Kanpur:
Residents of Kanpur - the hometown of slain television executive Neeraj Grover - have started a campaign to send one lakh letters to the president for "delivering justice" to the Grover family and push for prosecution of Kannada actress Maria Susairaj, who was convicted for destruction of evidence in the murder case.
Over 7,000 people have already joined the campaign that was launched on Monday evening by a traders' union.
"Be it doctors, engineers, students or housewives - people from all walks of life are extending support to the campaign by writing letters to President (Pratibha) Patil, demanding justice for the aged parents of Neeraj Grover," Gyanesh Mishra, a member of the traders' union organising the campaign, told reporters on Tuesday in Kanpur, some 80 km from Lucknow.
"Taking into account the widespread response, we believe it will hardly take a few weeks to achieve the target of 1 lakh letters. It's not that only those who knew Neeraj, or those who are in touch with his parents are coming to express their solidarity with the cause. Everyone seems to be coming out in support for the Grovers who lost their only son," he added.
As part of the campaign, Neeraj's parents too have written letters to president.
"All we want is justice... So, we have also written to the president. We hope to get justice with the intervention of the president," Neeraj's mother Neelam Grover told reporters on Tuesday in Kanpur.
"We know our son will not come back, but are confident that such a campaign would help us in getting justice," she added.
People, who are reaching the Ghantaghar crossing to participate in the campaign, are demanding the severest punishment for Ms Maria.
"In several letters, people have demanded death penalty for Maria... People participating in the campaign are of the view that Maria must be lodged in jail," said Mr Mishra.
Maria Susairaj was sentenced to three years in jail on Friday by a Mumbai court for destroying evidence in the Grover murder case. Since she had already served more than three years as an under trial, she was ordered to be released once she had paid the compensation amount of Rs.50,000 to the victim's family.
Her co-accused and fiance, ex-naval officer Emile Jerome Mathew was sentenced to 10 years jail term after the court found him 'guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.
In 2008, Neeraj Grover was killed in a flat in Malad West - 25 km from Mumbai. His body was hacked into pieces and disposed of near Manor in Thane district.