'My son should not be treated as criminal': Utsav's father

SK Sharma, father of the youth who on Tuesday attacked murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar's father Rajesh Talwar outside a court in Ghaziabad, has said his son "should not be treated as a criminal, considering his mental condition".

SK Sharma, father of the youth who on Tuesday attacked murdered teenager Aarushi Talwar's father Rajesh Talwar outside a court in Ghaziabad, has said his son "should not be treated as a criminal, considering his mental condition".

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"My son is suffering from depression since December 2007... Taking this into account, he should not be treated as a criminal for attacking the man (Talwar)," Sharma, a professor with the Banaras Hindu University's (BHU) mechanical engineering department, told IANS on phone.

"I am shocked to know about my son's behaviour... We will now have to verify whether my son had stopped taking medicines for depression," Sharma added.

Utsav, who attacked Talwar outside the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad, had earlier attacked and assaulted Haryana's tainted former police chief SPS Rathore in February 2010.

Asked to comment on the statement given by the police that Utsav doesn't appear to be mentally ill, Sharma retorted: "Ghaziabad police chief is not a medical expert... We have everything to prove that Utsav is not mentally stable."