LUCKNOW “We will take the legal battle to Supreme Court to get justice, no matter what may come,” said Shivi Tiwari, 18, from Chennai, when her mother Kalpana Tiwari called to inform her about the district court’s order sentencing former constable Prashant Chaudhary to 10 years in prison for killing her father.
Shivi, elder of two siblings, is pursuing B Tech from Sri Ram College in Chennai. She refused to be bogged down by the verdict that her family termed as “too lenient”.
District judge Malkhan Singh on Monday sentenced former constable Prashant Chaudhary to 10 years’ imprisonment under Section 304 (Part II) of the IPC – culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The court had convicted Chaudhary on September 17 and pronounced the quantum of punishment on Monday. Chaudhary had already spent around eight years in jail.
The second accused, constable Sandeep Kumar, was acquitted by the court on Thursday.
“The endless wait of eight years in hope for justice has turned into a nightmare for me. Justice has not been delivered,” said Kalpana Tiwari, wife of deceased Vivek Tiwari, after the verdict. She works as a PRO with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation.
“I called my elder daughter in Chennai to inform about the court’s verdict. She is not willing to give up so easily. Her reaction was to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court no matter what may come,” she added.
The family had sent the younger daughter Shanvi, 10, to Indore in 2021 to stay with her maternal aunt and pursue education. She is now in Class 8. The family now plans the next round of battle in high court.
“After the incident, we were in trauma. Shanvi too was under stress and mental trauma. On doctor’s recommendation we sent her to Indore,” said Vishnu Shukla, Kalpana’s brother, who has been pursuing the legal battle in the district court for eight years.
“We have not received the court’s copy yet. The moment we get it, we will approach a high court lawyer to seek legal opinion,” he added.
