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| Man found guilty of model murder | Man found guilty of model murder |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A court in India has found the son of a governing Congress party politician guilty of murdering a model in 1999. | |
| Manu Sharma, son of former federal minister, Venod Sharma, was convicted of shooting model Jessica Lal dead at a fashionable restaurant in the capital. | Manu Sharma, son of former federal minister, Venod Sharma, was convicted of shooting model Jessica Lal dead at a fashionable restaurant in the capital. |
| In February, a lower court acquitted nine people, including Sharma, of the murder. Police filed an appeal and the case was reopened amid a public outcry. | In February, a lower court acquitted nine people, including Sharma, of the murder. Police filed an appeal and the case was reopened amid a public outcry. |
| Prosecutors said Sharma fired at Ms Lal after she refused to serve him a drink. | |
| We have no hesitation in holding Sidharth Vashisht, alias Manu Sharma, guilty of the offence of murder Delhi high court judges | |
| It is the second time in as many months that a conviction has been secured in a retrial of a high-profile Indian murder case involving India's elite. | |
| In October, the son of a former senior policeman was convicted of raping and murdering Delhi student Priyardishini Mattoo in 1996. | |
| Sustained public campaigns were mounted in both cases to highlight what critics said were examples of the rich and powerful using their influence to evade justice. | |
| Campaign | |
| Manu Sharma and his eight co-accused were acquitted in the first trial after key eyewitnesses retracted their statements. | |
| The judge said the case presented by the prosecution had several loopholes and there was insufficient evidence to convict. | |
| The acquittals, in February, sparked public outrage, with protest rallies and a sustained media campaign launched to demand justice for Jessica Lal, who was 34 when she was killed. | |
| Police in Delhi appealed against the acquittals, saying the accused had been freed on "mere conjectures and surmises". | |
| They also opened an investigation into allegations that there had been a conspiracy to pervert justice in the case. Some witnesses and police officials who were involved in the case were questioned. | |
| Delivering their verdict on Monday, two high court judges in the capital said: "We have no hesitation in holding Sidharth Vashisht, alias Manu Sharma, guilty of the offence of murder." |