'We prayed for case to be solved but we hoped it wouldn't come to this'

A year after the brutal murder of music composer Jatin-Lalit's sister Sandhya Singh, her only son Raghuveer surrendered to the cops earlier this week after being named prime suspect.

Lalit Pandit now says the case's closure is something the family now dreads.

"First, we lost our sister under such brutal circumstances. And now, our nephew Raghuveer is being seen as the prime suspect. How can that make us happy? While we prayed for the case to be solved, we hoped it wouldn’t come to this," he says.

Raghuveer’s father Jayaprakash Singh was with Raghuveer when he surrendered on Monday, December 16.

"The police have been trying to interrogate Raghuveer for a while now," Lalit continues. "They suspect his involvement

because of the contradictory statements he made. But as a family, we are hoping the boy is confused and tripping over his words because of his drug habits."

Lalit’s sister -- former singer Sukshana Pandit -- has not been told of the foul murder yet.

"She won’t be able to to take the shock. We keep making excuses. We’ve told Sulakshanadidi that Sandhyadidi is with her husband in Bangalore. Luckily, she doesn’t read newspapers or watch television,” Lalit explains.

Reminiscing over happier times, Lalit says, “Being the youngest in the family, I was Sandhyadidi’s favourite. She took me on my first holiday. Just the two of us. She was like my mother. I will never stop missing her. Her going away is sad enough but to go this way! What had she done to deserve this?"