2 minutes of readingFebruary 1, 2026 03:40 pm IST
BEFORE the judge took his seat in courtroom number 55 of the Mumbai City Civil and Sessions Court on Saturday, Nidhi Kukreja had already arrived. He sat silently, waiting for the verdict in the murder case of his 19-year-old daughter Jhanvi.
Since 2021, she has been one of the most frequent attendees at the hearings, closely following the process, speaking with the special prosecutor and trying to understand each stage of the trial, without being able to leave behind the night when her eldest daughter was killed.
On December 31, 2020, Jhanvi, then a psychology student, had gone out to a New Year’s Eve party with two friends, Diya Padalkar, her childhood friend who lived in the same building, and Shree Jogdhankar. The party on the terrace of a friend’s building in Khar started around 8 pm and the three of them were there for a while. Since January 1 was Jhanvi’s father Prakash’s birthday, she wanted to return home to cut the cake with him. She, along with Diya and Shree, returned to their Santacruz building and around 11:45 pm they cut the birthday cake before leaving again for the party on Shree’s scooter. In the early hours of the morning, Nidhi and Prakash received a phone call that changed their lives forever.
“The date is now traumatic for us. We have stopped celebrating my husband’s birthday. The last five years have been nothing but seeking justice for my daughter,” Nidhi said.
Working at a jewelry company, Nidhi said she balanced her professional and family responsibilities in a way that allowed her to prioritize court dates. “I didn’t want to miss a single day of the hearing,” he said. She made sure to attend most of the hearings, often alone.
Over the years, Nidhi has spoken of her regret at not being informed sooner about the injuries her daughter had suffered and has often wondered whether Jhanvi could have been saved if she had been taken to hospital in time.
