one day beforeWriter: Rajesh Sahu
On 21 March 2022, 19-year-old Shivani was shot by a boy in Narangpur village of Meerut because she did not accept his proposal. On the first date of 2022, a boy killed a 22-year-old girl in Deoband by stabbing her in the stomach and chest with a full market knife. The list of murders in unrequited love is getting longer. The fifth story of the Murder Mystery series is related to unrequited love. Where the son of IPS raped his own junior and murdered in a horrific manner. Let’s tell the full story…
After Srinagar and Jammu, Priyadarshini came to study Delhi Law
Priyadarshini Mattu was 26 years old in 1996. The house was in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. There he studied till 12th from the nearby school. She went to Jammu to do B.Com. Told uncle to study law. Uncle called to him in Delhi. Mattu took admission in LLB from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University. She used to sing well so her friends started calling her Tom-boy.
Priyadarshini after doing her initial studies in Srinagar and Jammu moved to Delhi and took admission in DU.
IPS officer’s son caught sight of Priyadarshini, and got stuck there.
Santosh Singh was also studying law from DU. He was Priyadarshini’s senior. Her father IPS JP Singh was posted as Inspector of General Police in Jammu and Kashmir. Santosh’s eyes fell on him. Gathered information about Priyadarshini through friends. Tried to talk to him, but Priyadarshini did not show any interest. Santosh did not hold back. As if he has decided that I will accept Priyadarshini as a girlfriend.
Santosh said, trust me or else you will regret
Santosh Singh proposed to Priyadarshini in DU campus itself. The girl refused. Proposing again for a few days, Santosh said, “Trust me, you will regret it, you need a guy like me in your life.” Priyadarshini did not agree. Santosh Singh left the college after completing his studies but he did not give up. Now he would take a bullet, sometimes in the campus and sometimes at some crossroads, behind Priyadarshini. Priyadarshini got worried. The matter reached to Chaman Lal Mattu. The father told Priyadarshini, “You go to the police and get the case registered.”
Santosh wanted to make Priyadarshini his girlfriend but he did not like her at all. That’s what bothered him.
When Priyadarshini went to the police station, Santosh implicated her in a false case.
The girl went to the police. Due to the matter being related to the son of IPS JP Singh, at first the police hesitated, but when the pressure increased, a case was registered. The duty of a constable named Rajinder Singh was put in the security of Priyadarshini. Meanwhile, Santosh also accused Priyadarshini of studying for two degrees simultaneously and lodged a complaint. When the DU administration investigated it, it was found that Priyadarshini has taken admission in LLB after completing M.Com. Santosh Singh is lying.
to compromise priyadarshini Santosh entered the flat of
23 January 1996, the girl was in her flat in Basant Vihar. Santosh Singh reached there by bike and knocked on the door. Priyadarshini’s servant Birendra Prasad opened the door and said, “How are you here?” Santosh said, “Nothing, have come to talk, now everything will be fine.” Birendra let Santosh inside and himself went out to get the household items.
This is the same house where Priyadarshini lived. She was raped and murdered at the same place.
Raped then found a weapon to kill, if nothing was found then hit 14 times with helmet
When Santosh Singh reached inside, he came in his real form. He started forcing Priyadarshini. When the girl protested, Santosh fell on her. Got beaten up Sehmi raped Priyadarshini. After this, he hit Priyadarshini 14 times in the face with the helmet he had taken inside and then strangled him with a heater wire. After that he ran away from there with great ease.
It was 5.30 in the evening. When Rajinder Singh, posted in security, arrived with constable Dev Kumar, he was stunned to see the condition of the house. Priyadarshini’s body was lying covered in blood under the bed. Rajinder Singh immediately informed the police. Police came and started investigation. His parents came. Mother Rageshwari Mattu was crying in roar. Chaman Lal Mattoo was handling them but the tears were not taking the name of stopping from their eyes.
Chamal Lal was devastated after the death of his daughter Priyadarshini, but fought till the last breath for justice.
Santosh was booked only then JP Singh was transferred to Delhi.
Police started investigation of the matter. Meanwhile, Santosh’s father JP Singh was transferred to Delhi. He was appointed as the Joint Commissioner of Police. It is the second rank after the Police Commissioner in Delhi. Due to the pressure of JP Singh, the Priyadarshini murder case got weak. The police wrote in its report that the rape did not take place. To trap Santosh, his blood sample was taken and put in the girl’s underwear. The CBI got this case with the same evidence.
The judge said, Santosh has committed murder, still I am leaving
On 3 December 1999, the Delhi Sessions Court acquitted Santosh Singh. Judge GP Thareja said, “We know that the murder was committed by Santosh Singh but the evidence submitted by the CBI is very poor. The CBI has not done its job properly.” As soon as people came to know about the decision, there was uproar. For the first time in the country, people came out with a candle for justice. The CBI also did not like the decision and appealed against the decision of the lower court in the Delhi High Court on 29 February 2000.
As soon as he was acquitted from the court, Santosh married and became a lawyer.
After being acquitted from the court in 1999, Santosh Singh got married with pomp. Becoming a lawyer, he started going to the court of Delhi. After some time a daughter was born. On the other hand, the matter did reach the Delhi High Court but no hearing was taking place. Even after 6 years, the matter was not heard even once. Santosh’s father retired and on the other hand the verdict came in the Jessica Lal murder case. These two reasons opened the file of Priyadarshini case.
The Delhi High Court started hearing the case on a daily basis. The result was that after 42 days of hearing, Santosh Singh was sentenced to death.
Death sentence after 42 days of continuous hearing
The Priyadarshini case, on which a hearing was not held for 6 years, started hearing every day from September 2006. The court hears the arguments of both the sides. Looking at the evidence presented by the CBI. 42 days later, on 17 October 2006, the court found Santosh guilty of raping and murdering Priyadarshini. On 30 October 2006, the Delhi High Court sentenced Santosh Singh to death, calling the murder of Priyadarshini the rarest of the rare. After this decision, tears came out from the eyes of Priyadarshini’s father.
Now the Supreme Court has changed the decision
Santosh Singh filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Delhi High Court on 19 February 2007. When the hearing started, Santosh’s lawyer again raised questions on the DNA report. For this, the lawyer forwarded the decision of the lower court. Santosh’s daughter was also cited. As a result, the Supreme Court in October 2010 commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment.
Her father worked tirelessly to get justice for Priyadarshini. Be present on every date of the court. When the decision of the Supreme Court came, I was a little disappointed and said, “I had hoped that Santosh Kumar Singh’s death sentence would be upheld, 14 years of struggle is a lot.”