Someone did kill Jessica Lall, after all. And it was, as all of us had suspected, Manu Sharma, the son of an influential politician, who almost got away by threatening or paying off witnesses, leaving the country in shocked outrage.

Exactly 300 days after Manu and his friends were allowed to walk free by the trial court of S L Bhayana, the Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Manu for murdering Jessica.
Two days after he was convicted for murdering model Jessica Lall, Manu Sharma, son of a senior Congress leader, was on Wednesday given life sentence by the Delhi High Court, rejecting prosecution demand for death penalty.

ustice and truth have finally prevailed. Conviction of the killer in this sensational case - which brought out thousands of people on the streets to protest against Manu's acquittal, with candlelight vigils and silent marches - has restored the faith in the people about the rule of law. Even people with awesome clout have to pay for their crime.

"My father died waiting to hear this verdict," said Jessica's sister Sabrina Lall. "His soul will now be able to rest in peace." Sabrina also thanked the media: "I thank you guys who started the campaign for justice for Jessica."
The outrage over Jessica also brought the spotlight on two other sensational murders - that of Priyadarshini Mattoo and Nitish Katara.

Coming to Monday's dramatic verdict, a bench comprising Justices R S Sodhi and P K Bhasin also convicted Vikas Yadav, son of "tainted" ex-MP D P Yadav, and former cola company executive Amardeep Singh Gill for conspiring with Manu to destroy evidence of his presence at the crime scene. The Bench also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Sharma, son of former Haryana Minister Vinod Sharma.

The other two convicts -- Vikas Yadav, son of controversial Uttar Pradesh politician D P Yadav, and Amardeep Singh Gill alias Tony, an executive with MNC, were sentenced to four years imprisonment with a fine of Rs 3000 each for conspiring to destroy the evidence.

Yadav and Gill were found to have returned to the restaurant after Jessica's murder on the night of April 29, 1999 to take away Manu's Tata Safari.
Here is the Chronology of Events which took place. Taken from The Times of India.

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