'If he has killed, he should meet same fate'

BISWAN (Sitapur): Vijay's father, Radhey Shyam Saini, and mother, Shanti Devi, who sell flowers and garlands at the local Shitla Devi and Hanuman temple, are appalled at the turn of events. "If he has killed someone's daughter, he should also meet the same fate," says Radhey Shyam without mincing words. "We did not have any relationwith Vijay since the day his elder brother, Manoj, who was mentally unsound, wasfound dead in our house," said Radhey, adding that Vijay was the only person inthe house at the time of the incident. "After Manoj was found stabbed to deathin 2007, my father asked Vijay to leave," said Sanjay, the eldest of thebrothers who works as a driver. The helpless father added, "But we don't knowwhat actually transpired as Manoj had on previous occasions tried to inflictinjury on himself using a knife."Vijay was in touch with the familyonly through phone calls - that too, made only to his mother, according toSanjay. "We had heard that he was working at a factory in Delhi as a tailor.That is what he had told my mother. But we were never aware that he worked inMumbai also," Sanjay further said.Neighbours and acquaintances,meanwhile, made conflicting claims about Vijay's character. Though nobodybelieves that he is involved in Radhika Tanwar's murder, a few of them claimedthat his personality was "complicated". TOI visited an electricalrepair shop where Vijay had worked for over a year. "I came to know about hisinvolvement when Delhi police raided his house. But frankly speaking, he nevermisbehaved with me or any of our staff," said Salim alias Munna at the shop. "Wenever heard of any incident of eve-teasing involving Vijay nor did we findanything wrong with his friends," he added. A woman who runs a general storeacross Vijay's double-storey house said, "He was a very good naturedboy."However, the father and son who run Lakshmikant Sharma WieldingWorks shop in the area - where Vijay worked for around three years - could notreach a consensus while they were discussing Vijay's character. Lakshmikantsaid, "He was a good natured person but one cannot be sure of his character. Butaccording to me, he did not have criminal mindset." However, his son, Manish,said, "There was something unique about Vijay. Despite the fact that he belongedto a poor family, most of his friends were from rich families and financiallywell-off." According to neighbours, Vijay visited the town about amonth back. When asked about this, both Radhey and Sanjay said, "We too heardthat he had come and that Vijay had passed by the road in front of our house.But he did not dare to come home."Though there are few in the Sainifamily who believe that Vijay has committed the crime, no one seems to bethinking about bailing him out. "Nor are we in a financially sound state to doanything for him at present," said the family.