Six month freeze finally over: Sarah Groves trial resumes

Tuesday 07 May 2019

A witness has taken to the stand in the Sarah Groves murder trial, as progress was finally made in the case, following six months of cancelled or postponed hearings.

The trial had come to a deadlock because of a long period of civil unrest in Srinagar, India, which stopped the authorities from taking prisoners to and from the court. The man accused of murdering Miss Groves, Richard de Wit, had therefore been unable to attend any recent hearings, stopping them from going ahead.

Yesterday, however, proceedings finally continued, and despite some delays during the morning, a witness finally was able to start giving evidence after the lunch break. That witness was for the prosecution: 39-year-old Hakeen Rashid. He is a fingerprint expert at the Forensic Science Laboratory and was asked about the 'presence or otherwise of fingerprints on two exhibits' – some papers (the exact relevance of which is not clear) and more importantly on the alleged weapon of defence – the knife which had been found at the crime scene and supposedly belongs to the accused. 

Mr Hakeem confirmed that no discernible fingerprints were found on the knife.

Pictured: Richard de Wit and Sarah Groves, whom he is accused of murdering. 

In recent weeks, Miss Groves' parents said they had written a letter to the most senior Judge on the Indian judicial circuit to try and speed the trial up. He asked the judge in this case, and while the Groves do not know what it said exactly, "it was apparent from comments made by the judge and by certain actions taken in court today that some points have registered with him".

According to their legal representative in India, one of the requests was the replacement of the Special Public Prosecutor, Mr Mohammad Sultan.  This has not yet happened but he did manage to secure the attendance of a key witness.

Mr Groves added: "It has also been evident for some time that the senior defence representative, Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, was becoming increasingly unreliable.  In fact, towards the end of 2018 he walked out of court following a heated argument with the judge.  Since then his appearances have been sporadic.  

"He was not in court when required today but his son was in the courthouse. The Judge asked his son to locate his father and direct him to attend.  Advocate Dar sent a message back to the effect that he was otherwise engaged and could not attend.  The Judge immediately replaced him with Mr Yawar Khan, an advocate with more than 15 years’ standing within the Srinagar court system."

Unrest in India and Srinagar has bogged down the Sarah Groves murder trial for years. 

Before closing yesterday, Judge Raina reiterated his desire to seek a fair and speedy conclusion to the trial.  He stated that the case was under very wide public scrutiny and that pressure was being brought to bear on him to achieve this. 

Speaking afterward, Mr Groves said: "Today’s hearing was a refreshing change. At last there were clear signs that the efforts we have been aiming at the various authorities in India and in Kashmir (political, diplomatic, legal) are beginning to pay off. There were some actions today that finally spoke louder than words. 

"In summary, a much better day in court and one that could also be seen as good news for the defence – a new legal representative and evidence that the alleged weapon of offence did not carry his fingerprints."

The next hearing has been scheduled for Monday 13 May. 

Pictured top: Richard de Wit, the accused, inset on the High Court in Srinagar.