mordant wit

The crime itself was sensational. A fashion model was shot dead in an unlicensed bar stuffed full of fashionable people. The prime suspect was a member of the capital's brat pack and the son of an influential politician.

The verdict turned out to be even more lurid. Nearly seven years after the killing of Jessica Lall at the trendy Tamarind Court bar and the about-face of several celebrity witnesses on the stand, a Delhi court acquitted all nine defendants, including Manu Sharma, the one accused of being the gunman. The others were charged with aiding him.

The acquittal two weeks ago unleashed a rare outrage in this country, just as it raised uncomfortable questions about the uneven course of justice in a society evermore polarized between the well-heeled and the rest.

Most noticeably among India's urban middle class, the acquittal has released a pent-up frustration with an often blundering and corrupt law enforcement bureaucracy and a deep disgust with the rich and famous who, by all appearances, manipulated it to their advantage.