Jessica Lal’s sister, Sabrina Lal has no objection to the release of Manu Sharma, who is serving life imprisonment in the murder case where he shot Jessica point blank at a crowded party in April 1999.
Fifteen years after Manu Sharma was sentenced to life in prison for killing model Jessica Lal because she denied him a drink at a party, her sister Sabrina Lal has said she “forgives him and won’t object to his release.” In a letter to the welfare office of Central Jail, Tihar, Sabrina mentioned that she has no objection to the release of Siddharth Vashishta alias Manu Sharma as he has spent 15 years in prison.
“I am also told that in this period he has been doing good work for charity and helping inmates in jail, which I feel is a reflection of reform,” she stated in the letter.
Manu Sharma has been moved to an “open jail” owing to his good conduct. The 41-year-old is allowed to leave the prison every day for work and return in the evening. Manu Sharma supposedly works with a non-profit in his name, set up for the rehabilitation of prisoners and their children.
Sabrina Lal was reported as saying,”I don’t want to hold on to any more anger or hurt. I feel he has served his sentence. I don’t feel there is any need to hanker about the situation.”
However, legal experts say that forgiveness or no objection by the victims’ family members is not a factor to be considered in the release of a convict. Only the State government has the authority to remit the whole or any part of Sharma’s punishment.
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