Speaking for convicted Kannada starlet Maria Susairaj, her lawyer Sharif Shaikh said they would even move the Bombay high court as she felt she was completely innocent in the matter and wanted to prove it.
Addressing the media, Mr Shaikh displayed a photograph, reportedly of Grover’s skeleton, and stated that the skeleton did not look like it had been chopped into 300 pieces. “The whole purpose of holding this press conference is to show that Grover’s body was not cut into 300 pieces,” Mr Sharif said, and added, “Look at the photograph. The skull, ribs and legs are intact. Clearly, the prosecution’s whole case was false.”
However, when asked why Susairaj went to a mall to buy a knife to cut up the body instead of calling the police, for which she had ample time, neither the convict nor her lawyer had an answer. “We don’t have to say anything about the case. The judge has convicted Maria and that is more than enough,” Mr Sharif said. When pressed for details regarding the killing and the trial, Susairaj refused to speak, merely saying, “I have spent three years in jail. I am not used to answering so many people. I don’t want to speak about Emile Jerome or Neeraj.” She added that she had no immediate plans to star in any movies. “She will be going to her hometown in two to three days,” Mr Sharif said.
The outraged friends of Grover, who attended the press conference to mark their protest, were incensed at Susairaj’s silence and that her lawyer was answering the questions put to her. “Let the killer speak,” they kept shouting.
“We will fight for justice. How can she get away so easily? I still clearly remember Neeraj’s father’s helplessness, his despair at never being able to see again the face of his only son,” said Javed Jafri, one of Grover’s friends.
Co-accused Emile Jerome was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Although she had helped Jerome to cut Grover’s body into several pieces and then dispose of them, Susairaj was only charged with destruction of evidence and concealing the truth. With three years of his 10-year sentence already spent behind bars, Jerome will spend seven more years in prison.