Mumbai, June 12: A 25-year-old woman broke down in the Special Court as she narrated how her daughter – a victim of gunfire of the terror pair Mohammed Ajmal Mohammed Amir Kasab and Abu Ismail at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus – had collapsed before her eyes and died.
Nafisa Qureshi, a resident of Kurla here, could not hold back tears when she deposed Additional Sessions Judge M L Tahilayani, who is conducting the trial of the November 26-29, 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Her daughter Afreen was among those who died at the CST on the night of November 26 when the duo launched attack with AK-47 and grenades. They were at the CST to catch the Devgiri Express to Aurangabad.
“My daughter was in pain when she was in my lap. She was bleeding and then passed away,” she said during her examination-in-chief conducted by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. Nafisa was taken to the JJ Hospital after the incident and was unconscious till November 30. On regaining consciousness, she was informed of her daughter’s death, Nafisa recounted tearfully.
During cross-examination when defence lawyer S G Abbas Kazmi asked her details about the terror strike, Qureshi said: “I have only one thing to say. My child died what about that?” Kazmi opposed the presence of Nafisa’s husband in the court saying it would prejudice her. However, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the witness’ reaction was natural and unintentional and it was unnecessary for her husband to leave the court.
When asked by Kazmi if she identified Kasab due to police pressure, Nafisa said: “Why should lie? If your daughter had died, would you have asked such questions? I have raised my child by doing different kind of jobs.”
—Agencies–