Grover Murder: Maria walks free after 3 yrs in Mumbai jail

Mumbai, Jul 2: The 'mastermind' of the gruesome murder of TV executive Neeraj Grover, Kannada actress Maria Susairaj walked free after three years in Mumbai jail on Saturday, Jul 2.

Maria, who succeeded to confine her face from the paparazzi, left the jail at around 11:30 am and is expected to take a direct flight to Bangalore on the same day.

Maria and her lawyer, who defended her as the "victim of cruel circumstances" in the court, are expected to brief the media over the whole issue at 7 pm on Saturday.

The Mumbai court, which became the target of several criticisms over its verdict on Grover murder case, convicted Maria and her fiance Emily Jerome Mathew, but surprisingly not for murder. Jerome has been charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Jerome, a former Navy personnel, was sentenced for 10 years in jail.

The Mumbai court convicted Maria for destruction of evidence in the murder. The maximum punishment for such offense can be three years of imprisonment and as Maria has already spent three years and one month in jail during the case trials, she was let off by the court.

Maria and Jerome killed Grover in May 2008. Grover's body was chopped into several pieces and was disposed off in a bag in Mumbai outskirts.

Media reports came out with two different stories. While some say Grover was killed as he (Grover) failed to fulfill his promise to give "break" to Maria in the industry, the other alleged that Jerome killed Grover suspecting about an affair between Maria and the slain TV executive.

OneIndia News