From day one Jessica’s murder was treated on par in the media with Ramani running an unlicensed bar. And, when she was arrested last week, most of the media asked no questions as if she somehow deserved to be arrested. I have concluded that the lack of sympathy for Ramani comes from her being a ‘socialite’, a celebrity of sorts, while Manu Sharma is only a good, little middle-class boy gone bad. Otherwise, surely there should be more outrage that a key witness is in jail while the killer walks free.

Surely, there should be more outrage that his father, Vinod Sharma, continues to be a minister in a Congress government. I emphasise Congress because please remember it is our only political party headed by someone who prides herself on always taking the moral high ground. Where is Sonia Gandhi’s inner voice now? How does she sleep at night knowing that she has a Chief Minister who thinks nothing of appointing a man in his Cabinet whose son could be charged with such a ghastly crime?

Perhaps, though, we are all to blame. I hear from Chandigarh that Manu Sharma is seen at social events and that there are many people in that city who think there is nothing wrong in going to his restaurant. I had imagined that some kind of social sanctions would apply but this is not the case and that saddens me because in the end people get the institutions they deserve.

We have a criminal justice system that can be subverted by power and money. This has already been established not just in Jessica Lall’s case but in the murder of another young woman, Priyadarshini Mattoo. Her killer went on to make a career as a lawyer because the prosecution made such a shoddy case that the judge was unable to convict him even though, as he openly admitted, he knew that he was the killer. The same thing happened with Jessica.

... contd.