Mumbai: For the 89th time in 16 years, Canada-based businessman Sanjay Goyal has come to India to seek justice against his mother’s murder. Mr Goyal said, “I am hoping and praying that the justice system in India will no longer delay any case”.
Goyal on Monday, January 13, in front of the Additional Sessions Judge, said, “I have been wandering in India for last 16 years for justice against killing my mother. We want justice for my mother and hope to see the culprits behind the bars. “
Sanjay Goyal’s mother, Dr. Asha Goyal, was a 62-year-old Canadian obstetrician woman from Orangeville. In August 2003, she was stabbed to death in a property dispute in Malabar Hills Flat, Mumbai. Asha Goyal, 40, an obstetrician and gynecologist who also worked in Saskatchewan was murdered amid a bitter dispute over the inheritance of $ 10 million (about 70 million) that pitted her against her brothers. “She wanted to broker peace between her brothers and was killed in cold blood,” Goyal said.
The Mumbai police believes that the four murderers were hired by Dr. Goyal’s warring brothers – Suresh and Subhash Aggarwal to kill their sister and make it look like suicide.
Suresh, who lived in India, died in November 2003. Subhash Aggarwal lives in Toronto as a Canadian citizen. He denies his involvement in Asha Goyal’s murder and in court’s documents he describes the police charges against him as “a vilification campaign”. About a month after Dr. Goyal’s murder, the Mumbai police arrested a suspected killer, but the case was inexplicably dropped.
Sanjay told, “We were angry with this information so in January 2004 this case was transferred to Mumbai Crime Branch.”
The case registered with Malabar police station and was later transferred to the Mumbai crime branch. However, since 2006, the case has been stuck in legal tangle in the higher courts.
In 2005, suspected accused Pradeep Parab had said in a confession filed by a magistrate that his brother Suresh Aggarwal had hired him to kill Asha Goyal.
He had also identified his aides P.K. Goenka, M. Shinde and Narenda Goyal (no relation to the victim).
After he was charged by the police, he listed Canadian brother Subhash Aggarwal as the “wanted accused”. Pradeep Parab became a witness after submitting a written statement, while another accused M. Shinde died.
In 2017, the magistrate court finally committed the case to the sessions court for trial following the Supreme Court’s directive.
Goyal said, “Two of the main accused have died and I have been told that some evidence has gone missing. We may never get justice if there is a further delay. Justice delayed is justice denied. I have been trying for 16 years, but I did not get any help from the Government of Canada to investigate or take action againstSubhash Aggarwal, who lives in Toronto. Despite being listed by Interpol for the murder, they (Interpol) call it an Indian case and say it doesn’t fall under their purview. My mother was a proud Canadian. She was an advocate for the protection and women’s health care system. But I did not get any help from Canadian government after her killing.”
Subhash Aggarwal, who is listed on the Interpol Red Notice website, says he is ready to talk to investigators in Canada but is not in favour of detention in India.
The son’s fight to bring justice to his mother is reminiscent of the long-running Canadian-British assassination incident involving Jasvinder Kaur Sidhu, a beautician from Maple Ridge in British Columbia.
Legal experts said that according to a report by the Vancouver-based South Asian Post, Dr Goyal and Jassi murder cases are among dozens of “NRI (non-resident Indian) contract murders” conducted by the convicts, who believe that India cannot extradite accused.
Reportedly, in many cases, poorly paid Indian policemen play a role in murders or help cover up evidence after they are paid in foreign dollars.
In most cases, broken marriages, illegal cases and property disputes are ordering NRIs to be killed.
It may be noted that in 2017, the main accused, Asha Goyal’s son-in-law, Narendra Goyal was released. Asha Goyal had 21 injury marks on her body.
In 2005, the magistrate’s court upheld the case in the sessions court. In 2006, when the court was supposed to frame charges against the accused, they went free from the case. But his sessions were dismissed by the sessions court in 2012. Today, for 16 years, Asha Goyal’s sons has come to India 89th times, seeking justice for his mother.