Neelam Katara satisfied with HC order in son's murder case

NEW DELHI: The mother of Nitish Katara, who was abducted and murdered in 2002, today said her stand has been vindicated by the high court which held that the murder of her son was a case of honour killing.

"This is an important stage and this battle for justice would continue. With the High Court's judgement, my stand is vindicated that it is a case of honour killing. We will try for death sentence for the convicts," Neelam Katara said.

"I am satisfied and happy with the verdict both as a mother and a citizen and thank the almighty, court, citizens of the country and the media for the decision," she said.

The High Court upheld the life sentence of Vikas Yadav, Vishal Yadav and Sukhdev Pehalwan, who are serving life term for abducting and killing Nitish, a business executive and son of an IAS officer, on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002.

Neelam raised concerns over Vishal and Vikas regularly going to hospitals during their stay in jail without any reason. She said the court has taken cognizance of the whole matter and took note of the fact as to why there are no adequate medical facilities in jails across country.

"It has been a tough personal battle as witnesses were scared to depose against powerful people in politics and they were subjected to a lot of pressure during trial. A case like this is a difficult fight for any citizen in this country" Katara's mother said.

She added that criminalisation of politics should come to an end and urged the citizens to choose the right candidates.