Please end our agony, plead Sarah’s parents
DELAYS in the trial of the man accused of killing Sarah Groves are dragging out the agony out for her family, her mother said yesterday as more than 5,700 people signed a petition calling for justice.
Kate Groves, along with her husband, Vic, this weekend launched the online petition, calling on the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to lodge a formal complaint with the Indian government over the way the trial has been conducted so far.
Mr and Mrs Groves hope it will help resurrect their campaign for justice, five years after their daughter was killed.
So far, 110 scheduled hearings in the trial of the accused, Richard de Wit, have taken place – no progress was made at 88 of those.
‘The tragedy, you think that nothing could ever be worse than that, but this is just drawing that agony out,’ said Mrs Groves.
‘It is, but there is no reason for it,’ added Mr Groves.
Apart from a spell of catastrophic weather in 2014 and some civil unrest, every other reason for delay had been inexcusable, he said.
‘The trial has been going on for five years.
‘The fact is it is getting worse, it is not speeding up. None of the issues are being properly addressed and the trend is going in the wrong direction.’
As well as calling on the British Government to lodge a formal complaint to the Indian Government, the petition also calls for the authorities in Kashmir to treat the trial with the respect it deserves.
Mrs Groves said to date it has never been afforded the priority it merits as a murder trial with the Indian government viewing the trial with less and less importance and priority.
‘And we can’t allow that to continue.’
Another aim of the petition is for all of the main witnesses to be recalled for cross-examination by a suitably qualified defence counsel.
There had been an unacceptable and ineffective examination and cross-examination of the main witnesses, Mr Groves said.
The real by-product of the way the trial had been conducted, he added, was that he and the family no longer trusted the evidence.
‘None of us will have confidence in the outcome unless things change.’
Miss Groves was killed on 6 April 2013 on a houseboat on Dal Lake, Kashmir. She had been stabbed 46 times. She was 24.
Dutchman Mr de Wit was arrested immediately afterwards and charged with her murder, although her parents say it is far from clear that he is the guilty party.
The trial hearings have been thwarted by such reasons as non-appearance of witnesses, loss of key exhibits, lack of defence counsel, civil unrest and absence of the judge and other officials. Fifteen of the 46 listed witnesses have yet to be summoned.
Mr and Mrs Groves have not been to Kashmir for two-and-a-half years. They said they will have to go again but want to wait until they start seeing progress.
‘There are a couple of reasons why: a) it is not safe; b) it it is very expensive and awkward to get to – it’s three flights minimum.
‘But it’s also that you could go and find nothing happens. If we had gone this latest time we would have found the court locked with three different excuses as to why the judge was not there.
‘It’s an insult that they expect us to swallow this.’
Making the trip to Kashmir and travelling through it was also a daunting and agonising experience, Mrs Groves said.
The next hearing is scheduled for 21 February, but Mr Groves said they were not expecting much to happen.
