On Wednesday, the Supreme Court, granting bail to Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora, said the trial will not be completed anytime soon as only 68 out of 237 witnesses cited by prosecution have been examined till date. This was Indrani’s 10th attempt at seeking bail
File photo of Indrani Mukerjea. PTI
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted bail to Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora.
The apex court did so remarking that six-and-a-half years in prison is too long a term and that the trial will not be completed anytime soon as only 68 out of 237 witnesses cited by prosecution have been examined till date.
An interesting point to note is that this was Indrani’s 10th attempt at seeking bail.
Sheena, 24, Indrani’s daughter from an earlier relationship, was killed in April 2012 and her body dumped in the adjoining Raigad district.
The murder came to light in August 2015 after the Mukerjeas’ former driver Shyamvar Rai spilled the beans when he was arrested in another case.
Indrani is facing a murder charge, while Peter Mukerjea has been accused of being part of the conspiracy to kill Sheena.
From getting divorced to being booked for ‘instigating’ a prison riot, and even claiming Sheena is alive, Indrani has hit headlines on multiple occasions during her time in jail.
Let’s take a closer look”
‘Instigated’ riot, claim officials
In June 2017, Indrani and nearly 200 inmates of the Byculla Jail were booked by Nagpada police for rioting and other offences after they staged a protest over the death of a convict, Manju Govind Shette.
Shette (45) died at the government-run JJ Hospital after allegedly being beaten up by a woman official of the jail.
The next day, enraged women inmates rose in protest, some of them went up to the prisons roof, while others made a bonfire of newspapers and documents inside the premises to express their anger, a police official said.
Indrani “instigated” the inmates by asking them to shun food and “use their children as shields” when prison staffers tried to stop them from agitating and gathering without permission, the department official said.
During the investigation, it was found that she played an “active” role in the protest staged by the women inmates, he said.
‘Beaten up, threatened with sexual assault’, says her lawyer
The former media executive’s lawyer later filed an application in a CBI court alleging that Indrani was verbally abused by jail officials and the superintendent and was threatened with sexual assault for protesting against the death in jail.
She showed me her bruise marks and injuries which were very prominent on her hands, legs and head,” the lawyer claimed in the application.
“Indrani has received some blunt injuries and other (injuries) as well. Her claims of being beaten up appear to be true as per our check-up,” the medical officer of J J Hospital told PTI.
“I was hit on the hand and legs… I can barely walk,” Indrani later told the court. She said the superintendent threatened her, saying “We will do the same thing that we did to Manju”.
Divorces Peter Mukerjea
In 2019, a family court granted divorce to Indrani and former media baron Peter Mukerjea – both facing trial in the case – after they’d moved the family court in suburban Bandra seeking divorce by mutual consent.
Indrani, also a former media executive, had served Peter Mukerjea a notice for divorce on the grounds that their marriage had “irretrievably broken down” and there was no chance of a reconciliation.
They had married in 2002.
Their divorce settlement included division of assets, including the couple’s properties in Spain and London, bank deposits and other investments.
‘Sheena is alive and in Kashmir’
Indrani in December 2021 raised eyebrows when she, in a letter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), claimed her daughter Sheena is alive in Jammu and Kashmir and requested the agency to further investigate the case.
Indrani, in her letter, said that one of her inmates in Byculla prison has told her that she had spotted Sheena in Kashmir some time ago. In her letter, Indrani has requested the CBI to look into the possibility of Sheena being alive.
Indrani has always maintained that Sheena has not been murdered and is alive and had gone abroad for her education in 2012. However, she could never prove her claims.
Sheena (24) was allegedly strangled to death in a car by Indrani Mukerjea, her then driver Shyamvar Rai and former husband Sanjeev Khanna in April 2012. The body was burnt in a forest in neighbouring Raigad district.
Sheena was Indrani’s daughter from her previous relationship.
Peter Mukerjea was also arrested for allegedly being part of the conspiracy. He was granted bail by the high court in February 2020.
With inputs from PTI
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