Times News Network

New Delhi, Apr 22: Slain model Jessica Lal's father Ajit Lal died of a brain stroke without seeing those guilty of his daughter's murder brought to book.

Ajit Lal, 76, had been admitted to Kalyani Hospital in Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi on March 30. He had not been well and had earlier suffered a major stroke that caused serious memory loss.

"He passed away on Friday night," said a hospital source. His body was still in the private hospital till Saturday morning.

Sabrina Lal, Jessica's sister, declined to say anything about her father's death. "Sabrina does not want to talk to the media for a couple of days as she is not in a good state of mind," said a friend of hers.

Ajit Lal had not been in good health after his wife passed away in 2000, a year after Jessica was shot dead at the Tamarind Court restaurant in Delhi in 1999 where she was filling in as a bartender. She was allegedly killed by Manu Sharma, the son of Haryana politician Vinod Sharma, after she refused to serve him a drink at a party in Tamarind Court.

On February 21, a sessions court acquitted all the nine accused in the case, including prime accused Manu Sharma, for lack of evidence, police inefficiency and backtracking of witnesses.

But the judgement caused an outrage among people and the media and the case has again been reopened for trial. Sabrina Lal is now spearheading the campaign for justice in the case.