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Sister of slain girl holds vigil

Nitish S Rele

About 60-75 sympathisers attended a vigil on July 11 before the White House on the first death anniversary of Deepa Agarwal.

The 20-year-old resident of Orlando, Florida, was murdered on July 11, 1999. Her body was discovered eight days later in a cardboard box in a closet. The murder suspect, Kamlesh Agarwal, has an arrest warrant against his name. He is believed to have fled to India immediately after the slaying.

The vigil was organised by Deepa's sister Sheela Agarwal, who wants to make sure justice is served by extraditing Kamlesh back to the US to stand trial in the slaying. Sheela is a graduate student of economics at Duke University, North Carolina.

In 1987, India and the US signed an extradition treaty, which requires prompt extradition of fugitive offenders to the requesting nation. Though the US has requested the Indian government to extradite Kamlesh, there has been no progress.

"The vigil was very successful," Sheela told rediff.com on her drive home to North Carolina after spending a few days in Washington, DC.

"The main thing was that everyone present at the vigil had a personal interest in my case. They all had a story to tell."

State Representative Dan Miller of Florida, who wants to cut off aid to countries that don't appear to be co-operating in an extradition process, held a press conference in this connection.

Two other congressmen, Rep John Mica of Florida and Rep David Price of North Carolina, are also strongly pursuing the case.

"They are going to write joint letters to the Indian embassy and the US state department," she said. "Let's see what reaction we receive from the state department."

Though none of the three congressmen could attend the vigil, two of them did send legislative aides to speak.

"I spent the next day [July 12] talking and meeting personally with the congressmen," said Sheela. "I also met the Indian Deputy Ambassador Sreenivasan. Let's see what happens."

A town hall meeting sponsored by the Indian American Bar Association was also held in Washington, DC.

In May, Sheela opened a Web site so she can close the unresolved chapter in her sister's death. The site, http://www.duke.edu/~sa9/, provides details of the murder case. Through her Web site, she is urging people to write letters to their respective congressmen to see that justice is served.

Details of the night of the slaying are pretty clear to the Orlando police. According to the authorities, Deepa had come home late on July 10 after a night out with friends. When she arrived, they say, she had a heated argument with Kamlesh, who was in the apartment at the time.

A couple of hours later, police say, neighbours saw Kamlesh leave the apartment. Deepa's body was discovered a couple of days later when the police got into her apartment after friends and parents called them to say they had not heard from her or seen her.

Sheela says she has no intention of giving up her fight for justice. "Deepa [meaning candle] would have turned 21 this coming January," she said. "I will keep raising awareness that this candle isn't forgotten in the bureaucratic rigmarole and that justice will be served."

EARLIER FEATURE:
A sister seeks justice

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