INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Twelve years after Manu Sharma was sentenced to life in prison for killing model Jessica Lal for denying him a drink at a party, her sister
Sabrina Lal has said she "forgives him and won't object to his release.Sabrina Lal has reportedly written a letter to the welfare officer at
Delhi's Tihar Jail, where Manu Sharma has spent 12 years
"I am 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 I
would like to state I have no objection to his release, owing to the fact that he has spent 15 years in jail," says the letter reported by
newspapers including the Hindustan Times."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," Sabrina Lal told the Times of India newspaper.Manu Sharma has been moved to
an "open jail" on grounds of good conduct
around 15 years in prison"Manu Sharma has been in an open jail for the past six months," the Tihar jail Director General Ajay Kashyap told ,
adding that prisoners who have shown good conduct over the years are shifted to an open jail.The officer said he was not aware of Sabrina
Lal's letter.Manu Sharma, or Siddharth Vashishta, supposedly works with a non-profit in his name, set up for the rehabilitation of
prisoners and their children.The son of former minister and Congress politician Venod Sharma, Manu Sharma was convicted of shooting dead
Jessica Lal during a private party in 1999
When Jessica Lal refused to serve him a drink late at night, a furious Manu Sharma whipped out his gun and shot her at point blank range,
said witnesses.His acquittal by a trial court sparked outrage and protests across the country until the case was readmitted in 2006 in the
After the court examined evidence overlooked by the lower court, Manu Sharma was held guilty of murder
The Supreme Court confirmed that verdict.Sharma has spent around 15 years in prison from the time he was arrested.Alleged special treatment
to him in jail often made news.In September 2009, he was granted 30-day parole - despite police objections - for the funeral of his
grandmother and on grounds that he needed to look into the family's business
After parole was extended, he was seen at a discotheque in Delhi
It was also learnt that his grandmother had died earlier.He was forced to return to prison in November after it emerged that he had been
visiting night clubs in Delhi and was also involved in a fight.Manu Sharma was granted parole again in 2011 for the wedding of his younger
Then in 2013, he appeared for his master's degree exams.
