Bharati Yadav arrives in India

Neelam Katara is confident she will tell the truth in court

Finally, Bharati Yadav, a key witness in the Nitish Katara murder case, arrived in India on Friday.

Bharati, who was in London for the last four years, was forced to come back following court directions and her deposition will take place on November 29. Confirming her arrival in Delhi, her lawyer S C Bhutan said he was not aware of her whereabouts.

“She has arrived but I have no idea where is she right now,” he said. Terming her arrival as a positive development for the case, Neelam Katara, mother of the victim Nitish Katara, said she was confidant Bharati will stand for the truth and depose against her brothers.

“Agreed that she is under family pressure, but then she was under pressure when she came forward to marry Nitish,” she said. Bharati agreed to come back  after the trial court began the proceedings of declaring her a proclaimed offender earlier this year and set November 29 as the date of her deposition, failing which she would be turned into an accused from  a witness. 

She first requested the court to allow her to depose through video-conferencing. When it was turned down, she filed a petition to bar the media and Neelam Katara from the proceedings. While the court barred the media from entering the court’s premises, it allowed Neelam Katara to be present in the court.