Uphaar tragedy still fresh in minds of affected families after 15 yrs

New Delhi, June 13 (ANI): The tragic Uphaar cinema incident observed its 15th anniversary on Wednesday, even as justice continues to elude the relatives and families of its victims.

Special prayers to mark the anniversary of the disaster that claimed 59 lives were organized in the capital today. Relatives performed special rituals in memory of the dead.

The relatives allege that the Cinema's influential owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, are employing every loophole in the Indian legal system to delay a fair trial in the case.

Neelam Krishnamoorthy, President of Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) and mother of two of the 59 victims, blamed the Indian judicial system for the delay in justice.

"We have been fighting a lonely battle for our family, and justice seems to be eluding us. The criminal justice system in this country has failed," she said.

Satyapal Sudan, another relative of a victim, said he did not expect to get justice soon.

"I think this process will go on, and, I do not think we will get justice so soon. It will go on," he said.

In November 2007, a Delhi court convicted all 12 accused, including real estate tycoons and owners of the theatre, Sushil and Gopal Ansal, after finding them guilty of gross negligence.

Later, the Delhi High Court reduced the sentence of the Ansals from two years to one year, as the judges contended they were respectable citizens and had no criminal record.

On June 13, 1997, 59 people were killed when the Uphaar Cinema exploded in flames during a movie, leading to a stampede.

The cinema was engulfed in flames when an overheated generator exploded in the building's basement.

Most of the victims were trapped in the balcony and suffocated to death. (ANI)