E-Paper
10-yr-old nails Kasab, father rips into him
A ten-year-old girl, rendered disabled during 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, identified in court Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab as one of the two gunmen who had fired indiscriminately at passengers inside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
“He is the one,” 10-year-old Devika Rotawat said, pointing towards Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 attacks.
On Wednesday, Devika, the youngest eyewitness to depose in the trial, identified Kasab as one of the two terrorists who killed several people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and also maimed her.
A bullet from Kasab’s AK-47 struck her in the right leg, leaving her disabled and forcing her to drop out of school.
When special judge M.L. Taheliyani asked Devika if she had really seen Kasab, she said, “Jab bhagwan ki kasam khate hai, tab jhooth nahi bolte (You don’t lie when you take an oath in the name of God).”
Devika had been waiting for a train to Pune along with her father Natwarlal and brother Jayesh on the night of November 26.
After the firing started, Natwarlal told Devika and Jayesh to leave the hall immediately. The bullet hit Devika soon after they stood up.
Natwarlal said Kasab was the man who ruined her daughter’s life and broke her leg. “Itne anjan logon ko mara ...Judge sahab, isko faansi ki saja do (he killed so many strangers...Sir, hang him to death),” he said.
