Monica to confess before magistrate

Kannada film actress Mariya Monica Susayraj and her lover Jerome Mathew, prime suspects in the Neeraj Grover murder case, want to confess before a magistrate. While Monica has expressed her desire to confess immediately, the police interrogators said thatMathew had told them that he had indeed stabbed Grover in a fit of rage and now wanted to come clean. , Maria Susairaj, who was arrested for helping him dispose of the body and for abetment wanted to confess her crime in front of police, but police wanted her to confess in front of the magistrate, as confession in front of police does not stand up in a court. . "The actress recorded the horror of this incident in front of us, but we want the court to record her statement in-camera' Police Officer Rakesh Maria who is investing the case said.

Rakesh Maria dismissed the questions on whether Susairaj would turn approver. Many legal experts feel that if the court allows Maria to turn as an approver, she may be pardoned or given lesser punishment.

"She is a co-accused who has participated equally in the crime by bundling the chopped pieces of Grover's body into three bags, which she helped her boyfriend Emile Jerome Mathew carry to the car, purchase petrol and a lighter, and helped him burn the body" said Rakesh.

MonicaThe police are still looking for the kitchen knife with which Mathew stabbed Grover in Susairaj's Malad flat on May 7 after he found him naked in her bedroom. They have, however, found the second knife that was used to cut up Grover's body. Rakesh Maria said that since both the accused have been arrested and most loose ends in the case have been tied up, the police want to "submit the charge sheet within 30days".

Susairaj told investigators that when Mathew and Grover were fighting, she had tried to stop Mathew by grabbing his hand but he flung her off. When he first stabbed Grover, the latter begged him to hear him out but Mathew was in a rage and wouldn't stop until he had knifed him about seven or eight times.

A police officer said, "As of now we know that Susairaj helped him toconceal the crime and destroy the evidence. She did not participate in the killing. But if at a later stage we learn that everything was planned by Mathew and her in advance, we will modify the charges."

Sources said that Susairaj's father (a builder from Bangalore) and Mathew's parents have arrived in the city and are seeking legal help.