India, April 9 -- On Monday, Leonard Valdaris, 63, got what he had waited 12 years for, when the Bombay High Court upheld a sessions court's order that could put eight police officers on trial for his son's homicidal death in custody. Agnelo was just 24 when he was arrested for theft and died just three days later after he was allegedly beaten by law-enforcement officers.

Although vindicated by the court's decision, he is haunted by what-ifs - whether he could have done something differently to keep his son alive. Certain that Agnelo could have done no wrong, he had turned him in, trusting he would be cleared of the theft charges.

Two days later, on April 17, 2014, Leonard was by his son's bedside in the civic-run Sion Hospital, where h...