Neeraj Grover murder case: Jerome's plea to be heard next week

Mumbai: The plea challenging the conviction of former Navy officer Emile Jerome Mathew in the Neeraj Grover murder case has been adjourned till next week.

Mr Mathew was convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced to ten years in prison by the sessions court on July 1.

Mr Mathew, in his appeal, has blamed co-convict Maria Susairaj saying that her confession, in which she virtually blamed Emile, should not have been accepted.

The appeal also says that as Maria was unable to explain what Grover was doing in her house through the night and since the prosecution has not been able to prove the exact time of Neeraj's death, Ms Susairaj cannot be fully exonerated.

Neeraj Grover was killed in May 2008 and his body was chopped in pieces and burned by Ms Susairaj and Mr Mathew in the jungles of Thane.

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About Mr Mathew's relationship with Maria Susairaj, friends said that he was always concerned about her and made it a point to keep tabs on her. "He had borrowed money from a common friend to fly to Mumbai and check on his fiance. It was obviously not a pre-planned murder and Emile did not believe in violence. But, catching Maria red-handed may have driven him into a fit of rage, resulting in the attack and Neeraj's death," said a friend.

Friends revealed that despite Ms Susairaj and Mr Mathew going to the same school and college, their relationship may have begun because of their membership in the same church. "Maria was two years senior to Emile and they were not dating in college. Both were members of the same church and that is where I believe their relationship began. Maria was a very friendly person and was known to be quite charming with the boys. She was intensely competitive and it is difficult to imagine her as a killer," said one of Ms Susairaj's classmates. Mr Mathew's friends said they had rebuked him for dating Ms Susairaj.

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