After 10 years, a man’s quest to punish his daughter’s killer succeeds

The accused had no other intention but to kill Romana Javed by hitting her with his car to take revenge for not responding to his request on a chit urging her to talk to him over the phone. ABDUL RASHID MALIK, principal district and sessions judge Srinagar

SRINAGAR:JAVED Shabnum’s struggle to bring his teenaged daughter’s killer to justice has borne fruit after a 10-year long wait.

“It was a long wait and a painful phase of my life but I did not give up. Today, I am satisfied that her killer has been sentenced for life,” he said.

Javed’s 17-year-old daughter Romana Javed was killed after an old city resident Shoaib Daryeel (then 19-year-old) knocked her down with his car on May 3, 2009, for rejecting his advances.

A local court on Monday sentenced Daryeel, then a student, to life imprisonment saying that the prosecution has proved the charges beyond any reasonable doubt.

“The accused tried to run over her but the hit of the vehicle was so powerful that the deceased blew up and fell down on the ground,” the court of principal district and sessions judge, Srinagar, Abdul Rashid Malik observed.

The accused, son of an influential business family of old city in Srinagar, had denied the crime.

The judge pronounced that the accused had no other intention but to kill her to “take revenge” for not responding to his “request on the chit to talk to him on his mobile phone”.

Special public prosecutor AA Teli said he had asked for a death sentence but the court took into account Daryeel’s young age at the time of crime.

He said another accused (then 17-year-old) who was accompanying the convict was granted bail after many years, owing to amendment in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. The special public prosecutor said he will challenge this in court.

Romana had passed her matriculation examination in March 2009 and had joined a higher secondary school, when on May 3, 2009, Daryeel dropped a chit with his name and mobile number as she was passing in the uptown area of Srinagar.

Special prosecutor AA Teli said when the girl did not pick up the chit, he returned and knocked her down with the car.

The day changed Javed Shabnum, a 61-year-old Unani medicine practitioner (hakeem) of

Bagh-i-mehtab, for life.

“When somebody’s daughter leaves in the morning and returns dead, life looses meaning. Nobody should face a situation where the father does the last rites of his daughter,” Javed said.

“This incident must be an eye opener for the masses to end violence against women. Every individual, irrespective of gender, must be willing to assume responsibility in fight for gender justice and also awaken public opinion on it,” the court observed.

Javed has not missed a single hearing in the case for the past 10 years. “The judges changed, the world changed, but I kept going to the court,” he said.

“Whenever a judge changed, the case would be heard from the beginning. It became unbearable to hear the details again and see the killer face to face,” he said.

“Besides another accused who was accompanying the killer on that day was given bail after six years of trial because he was a juvenile,” he said.

Javed said Daryeel’s family attempted to approach him during the trial for settlement. “They tried a couple of times but seeing my harsh response, they did not dare to repeat it,” he said.

“As a mark of respect to my daughter, I always stood up while the hearing would commence. Now, on the day of judgment, I will be able to face her and tell her that we tried our best to bring her killers to justice,” Javed said.