Year’s end, but the Groves family are no nearer justice

Sarah’s parents, Vic and Kate, have pledged never to give up their fight for justice.

The 24-year-old fitness instructor was killed on a houseboat in Kashmir in 2013. Dutchman Richard de Wit denies murdering her.

The 176th scheduled hearing was a familiar tale of no progress being made – this time because the judge was unable to attend.

Mr De Wit was not brought to court because of a lack of security guards, while a witness who had turned up was unable to complete giving evidence.

‘With the next hearing scheduled for mid-January due to the annual two-week shut-down of the court system in Kashmir, today’s hearing ended another frustrating and disappointing year in the history of this trial,’ said Mr Groves.

In 2019, there were 30 scheduled hearings during which only one out of the 46 witnesses listed by the prosecution completed their evidence.

No progress was made in 26 of the hearings scheduled.

Of these, 13 could not take place because one or more of the key players was not in attendance; a further 12 were lost through civil unrest directly or indirectly associated with the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August and one was lost due to bad weather.

The trial is now being heard under its fourth judge, with its seventh prosecutor and fifth defence counsel.

‘The quality of the official court papers – sometimes issued in English but recently issued in Urdu – is woeful,’ said Mr Groves.

‘We are no nearer knowing what happened on that dreadful night back in April 2013, or who was responsible for it.

‘Since it started six-and-a-half years ago, in June 2013, the State of Jammu & Kashmir v Richard de Wit has been blighted by a combination of incompetence by the legal authorities (in Kashmir and in Delhi) and by a disproportionate level of bad luck,’ he said.

‘No one could have predicted the diverse and sometimes bizarre reasons why the trial was not completed a long time ago.

‘Reasons include the worst floods in living memory in 2014, which washed away documents, crime scene photography, videography and almost all exhibits; serious doubts about the defendant’s mental fitness to stand trial; the defendant sacking his lawyers on five occasions; an earthquake; extensive and worsening civil unrest and strikes; the non-attendance or late attendance of witnesses without penalty but perhaps above all a complete failure by legal, political and diplomatic figureheads in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, India (Delhi) and Kashmir to force the authorities to treat the trial with the respect it deserves. This is a murder trial brought down to the level of a Magistrates’ Court.’

He said that all attempts to influence matters and to change this have fallen on deaf ears.

‘Matters have not been helped by three-and-a-half years of Brexit; three general elections; and the passage of time that has led to the loss of continuity with senior contacts in the Foreign Office, the British Government, Dutch legal and diplomatic representatives and with the many long-established relationships with the media.

‘Looking ahead to 2020, unless there is a significant change in attitude and approach by the key stakeholders in this trial, we will pass the 200 mark in respect of the number of scheduled hearings.

‘Can anyone anywhere recall a trial that has lasted this long, that has tried to convene on no less than 176 occasions and where there is still no end in sight?

‘Can anyone anywhere recall such disdain and lack of respect for the loss of a life in such horrendous circumstances?

‘Kate and I will never give up our fight for justice for Sarah. For this we rely heavily on third-party support, some of which needs to step up to the plate more than in recent times.

‘We sincerely hope that 2020 will move us in that direction more successfully than has hitherto been the case but we fear without upsetting a few people along the way, this will not be the case.’