Having waited for 12 long years for justice, Shashi Nath Jha's family on Tuesday said life imprisonment for Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren and four others for his murder was not enough, and that they should have been hanged.
"I had left everything to God. I thank the CBI and the judge for ensuring that my son's killers are punished. But life imprisonment is not punishment enough for them. They should have been hanged," Jha's mother Priyamvada said after a Delhi court handed out lifers to Soren and four others.
She said the family was ready to go to high court and even Supreme Court to ensure Soren was hanged.
"I am not satisfied. CBI has done a lot, but Soren should have been hanged. He should have been made to go through the same kind of torture that my son went through," she said.
"In my view, the punishment is very less. They should have been hanged," Jha's elder brother Amarnath said.
He, however, hailed the judgment, saying truth had prevailed and hoped that Soren did not wriggle out using his "money power".
Jha's daughter Kavita recalled how as a six-year-old she had gone to the court as a witness. "The judge had given me a toffee," she said.
His younger daughter Preeti said she would have been happier had Soren been sentenced to death.
"It is the first time a Union minister has been sentenced. We had lost hope. It has been over 12 years and we have finally got justice," she said.
Jha was the private secretary of Soren. He was murdered on May 22, 1994.
The local court also directed that of the fine amount of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 1 lakh will go to the victim's mother Priyamvada Jha and Rs 2 lakh each will be distributed to his two daughters.
