Jessica Lal was shot by Manu Sharma after she refused to serve him alcohol. (FILE)
New Delhi:
Sabrina Lal, who has fought a long legal battle to get her sister’s killer Jessica Lal to book, plans to create a foundation in memory of her sister and to help women in similar situations obtain justice.
She says she has forgiven her sister’s killer, Manu Sharma, who was released from prison on June 1 after the Delhi Sentencing Review Board recommended his early release.
Siddharth Vashisht, better known as Manu Sharma, was serving a life sentence in Tihar Prison for the 1999 murder.
“I really have nothing to say. I don’t feel anything. I feel numb. The only thing I hope and pray to God is that he never thinks of repeating this mistake again,” said Sabrina at PTI Tuesday.
In 2018, she wrote to the prison authorities that she had no objection to the release of Mr. Sharma.
“I wrote that I had no objection to his release. It was a long and arduous fight … It was very difficult. It is not easy to resume a normal life.
“After he (Sharma) was sentenced, we started to feel better about ourselves and there was a charge lifted that at least justice was done. It takes years – it doesn’t happen quickly “, she says.
But has she forgiven him?
“You have to forgive. If you hold on to hatred and revenge, you can’t go on. Forgiveness is something you have to feel. You can never forget, but you have to forgive at some point,” replies the reply.
“This trip is now 21 years old. You cannot live long in this situation. You just have to accept the fact that you have to forgive someone who has done something really horrible to your family,” she adds. .
Sabrina notes that it is crucial to get out of the rut and return to normal.
“You have to have the strength of mind and the power to do it,” she says. Ms. Sabrina has become a beacon of hope for many in their quest for justice when circumstances seemed hostile.
She says, however, that she is trying to flee the spotlight as much as possible.
For Ms. Sabrina, spirituality and her belief in God helped her to forgive the killer of her beloved sister.
Although it has been a long time, says Sabrina, she remembers her sister every day and plans to create a foundation in her memory.
“We are thinking of opening the Jessica Lall Foundation where we want to help women, empower them and do something meaningful and help other people in the same situation,” she said.
Calling Jessica her closest twin sister-in-law, Ms. Sabrina says that she misses her sister’s presence in her life every day.
“She was cheerful and positive in life. I don’t just miss birthdays and anniversaries, it’s everyday. I have a lot of pictures of her at home and not that I I need them to miss it, but they’re there to remind me, “she adds.
Manu Sharma, son of former Union Minister Venod Sharma, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court in December 2006 for killing Jessica Lal in 1999.
A trial court acquitted him, but the high court quashed the order. The Supreme Court confirmed his life sentence in April 2010.
The night of April 30, 1999, Jessica Lal was shot by Mr. Sharma after refusing to serve him alcohol at the Tamarind Court restaurant owned by socialist Bina Ramani at Qutub Colonnade in the Mehrauli district of south Delhi at night April 30, 1999.
