Priyadarshini Mattoo’s family meets Home Minister to stall her killer’s release

On what would have been Priyadarshini Mattoo’s 55th birthday, her family — along with founding members of the Justice for Priyadarshini Mattoo campaign — met Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood at the Delhi Secretariat, urging him to block the premature release of Santosh Kumar Singh, who was convicted of her 1996 rape and murder. As Chairperson of the Sentence Review Board (SRB), Sood holds the final authority over Singh’s potential release from Tihar Jail.

Mattoo, a 25-year-old law student, was raped and murdered in her New Delhi home in January 1996 by Santosh Kumar Singh, a fellow student who stalked her for years. Initially acquitted in 1999, Singh was convicted by the Delhi High Court in 2006, with his death sentence later commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 2010.

The delegation submitted a formal letter emphasising the need to uphold justice and public safety by denying leniency to Singh. The campaign, launched in 2006, was instrumental in securing Singh’s conviction after his initial acquittal in 1999 sparked widespread outrage. The family and activists expressed dismay over the Delhi High Court’s recent directive to the SRB to reconsider Singh’s plea for early release, which had previously been rejected.

“Santosh Singh has shown no remorse,” said Hemant Mattoo, Priyadarshini’s brother, in a statement to the media. “Releasing him would betray the victim and the justice we fought for,” he added.

The SRB has been directed to conduct a psychological assessment of Singh, following the High Court’s observation of “elements of reformation” in his conduct.