With life term to lawyer, slain girl's dad breathes easy

PATNA: After running from pillar to post for over seven years in his bid to get justice for her slain daughter, IRCON project director Virendra Prasad Singh can now breathe easy as Rajesh Bharadwaj, the high court lawyer who killed his daughter Sonu, has been sentenced to life term by an Ara court. Singh said finally the law has prevailed despite several impediments by the accused side.
Though he prayed before the court for hanging of Rajesh, Virendra said even with life imprisonment, he will now face punishment for his misdeed. "There were times when I found myself in a fix, but I'm thankful to God for giving me courage to continue my efforts," he said. Virendra added that Sonu's death was a planned and cold-blooded murder as she wanted to tie nuptial knot with Rajesh, but the feelings were not reciprocated by him. This could have been the immediate reason for murder, he said.
Speaking about the hardships he faced during trial of the case, Virendra said, "Since Rajesh and his father Ganesh Prasad Singh (now deceased) were high court lawyers themselves, no advocate was willing to take up my case." He pursued the case only to make sure that Rajesh didn't meet out the same fate to any other. Recalling his deceased daughter Sonu, Virendra said she was a brilliant student and was known among her peers for her exceptional academic prowess.
Elaborating on the case, Virendra's counsel, Manan Prasad Singh told TOI over phone that Sonu's body was found lying on railway track near Karisath railway station near Ara, but neither there was any injury mark on her body nor there was bloodstain on the tracks. Besides, technical investigation of the locations of Sonu's cellphone revealed that she took road route to Karisath, not the rail one.
It may be mentioned here that statements of as many as 16 witnesses were examined by the court of additional district and sessions judge-IV, B B Singh before pronouncing the sentence. A cash fine of Rs 30,000 has also been slapped on Rajesh by the court.
Sonu was a resident of Kankarbagh locality of the state capital. She completed her schooling from M P Birla School, Kolkata.