Deeply regret what happened 21 years ago, says Manu Sharma

NEW DELHI: “I deeply regret what happened 21 years ago, every single day,” says 45-year-old Manu Sharma, out of jail after remission of his life term in the 1999 Jessica Lall murder case.


In an online interview with TOI from Chandigarh, Sharma (Siddharth Vashisht) spoke about his life behind bars for 17 years and his remorse.

The case had united people across the country and triggered an unprecedented outrage in 2006 when Manu Sharma and nine other accused, including Vikas Yadav, were acquitted. Delhi HC later convicted them and Supreme Court upheld the HC verdict in 2010. Yadav, while on bail in the Jessica case, murdered Nitish Katara in 2002 and remains behind bars for a rigorous imprisonment of 30 years after being convicted in both cases.

Sharma was released from jail earlier this week for “satisfactory conduct in prison.” His lawyer, Amit Sahni, said the sentence review board recommended premature release on the basis of reports from the jail authorities and lack of any opposition from Delhi Police.

Recalling the fateful night of April 29-30, 1999, when he shot Jessica at Tamarind Court as she refused to serve him a drink, Sharma says: “I would do anything to undo what happened, I only wish that I could,” he says. He says he feels “eternally sorry for what happened, far more than I can express in words.”

Son of a powerful Haryana politician, Venod Sharma, Manu had escaped from the scene but surrendered a week later after a massive manhunt was launched across NCR and Chandigarh. He was later released on bail when a Patiala House court acquitted him and others in the case in February 2006.

Sharma says his years in isolation taught him some of life’s hardest lessons and helped him reform. Life in jail, away from his family and a luxurious life, was difficult “but in time you get accustomed to it”.

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He dreaded the possibility of other inmates coming after him. “They can come at you any time. And when you sleep in barracks — as I did for quite a few of my earlier years — you have to be constantly alert, even at night, as that is the best time for them to attack,” he recalls.

“However, in my latter years, when I was more used to jail life, I tried to spend my time in more constructive ways. My first assignment was to tend to the gardens and that gave me a lot of peace and tranquility. Thereafter, I was asked to work in the Tihar Jail factory, and I can say today that my 10 years spent there helped me keep my sanity. I also tried to read as much as possible and completed my degree in human rights and studied law as well,” Sharma revealed.