Candlelight vigil to seek justice for Nirupama

NEW DELHI - Around 250 people held a candlelight vigil at the Jantar Mantar Saturday evening seeking justice for Delhi journalist Nirupama Pathak, who was found murdered at her home in Jharkhand April 29.

The protest was to have been held at the India Gate but the organisers, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Alumni Association, later changed the venue.

The participants, mostly students and from the IIMC — where Patahk studied — Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University, NGOs, carried a life-sized portrait of the slain journalist and placards and posters reading “We want justice for Nirupama” and “CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) take over case from Jharkhand police”.

Neelam Katara, who fought for long to get justice for her son Nitish Katara who was murdered in 2002, also participated in the protest, along with representatives from media and other organisations like All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA).

The participants also raised slogans against the Jharkhand police and demanded the case be handed over to the CBI.

H.Shekar, who studied with Pathak at IIMC, said: “Nirupama’s case should be shifted from the hands of Jharkhand police to the CBI as the local police are trying to close the case citing it to be suicide.”

“But the post-mortem examination revealed she was smothered to death and that she was 10-12 weeks pregnant. To nab the real culprit, the case should be handed over to CBI,” he added.

“We are also planning another march shortly from the Press Club to the home ministry,” one of the organisers said.

Pathak, 23, worked for Business Standard daily in New Delhi. She had gone to her home in Koderma town of Jharkhand April 19 and was due to return April 28, but her reservation was cancelled. She was found dead April 29.

She passed out of the IIMC last year, and was in relationship with her former batchmate - which her parents reportedly did not approve of.

Her family insists that she committed suicide. Pathak’s mother, who was arrested Monday for allegedly being linked to the murder, was later released on a three-day bail.

A Jharkhand court Friday directed the police to lodge a first information report (FIR) against Pathak’s boyfriend Priyabhanshu Ranjan under different sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sexually exploiting the journalist, misleading her for marriage and forcing her to commit suicide.