'I want my daughter to get the justice she deserves'

“It has taken us more than two years to build a pyre and cremate our slain child. But justice will not be served until her murderer is caught,” said a tearful Upendra Rai as he walked out of the crematory in Dahisar (East) after cremating the remains of his three-year-old daughter Shreya, who was killed in October 2009.

“It has taken us more than two years to build a pyre and cremate our slain child. But justice will not be served until her murderer is caught,” said a tearful Upendra Rai as he walked out of the crematory in Dahisar (East) after cremating the remains of his three-year-old daughter Shreya, who was killed in October 2009.

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“I collected her remains on Sunday and took them to the cremation ground directly. I did not look at them, I did not take them home. I did not let my wife accompany me because the hurt is still fresh.”

For the past two-and-a-half years, 33-year-old Rai, an electrical engineer who lives with his wife, Sunaina, 30, and nine-year-old son in Borivli, has done everything to find his daughter’s murderer. “But the criminal still walks freely. I want my daughter to get the justice she deserves. As her father, it is the least I can do for her.”

Rai is unhappy with the investigation. “The local police were in charge of the investigation for more than six months, but they did not have any leads. After I appealed in court, the case was handed over to the crime branch, but nothing has happened,” he said.

Appealing to people, Rai said: “I request all parents to not to let their kids loiter around unwatched so that no other child meets the fate my daughter did.”