MUMBAI: A special Prevention Of Terrorism Act (Pota) court is likely to pronounce on Thursday whether the three persons, including a woman, found guilty of killing 52 people in one of the worst terror attacks on Mumbai, should be hanged or not.
The prosecution has demanded capital punishment for Hanif Syed, his wife, Fehmida, and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari for planting two bombs at Gateway and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003 that left so many people dead.
Syed and Fehmida have been found guilty of planting the bomb at Gateway. Ansari delivered the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has termed it a ‘‘rarest of rare’’ case in which the trio had ‘‘enjoyed their act of killing’’. Nikam said they had been unhappy with smaller blasts that resulted in low death tolls and hence used RDX for the twin blasts.
The defence, though, has been vehement in its opposition to the death penalty, especially for Fehmida.
She has been termed an ‘‘uneducated Muslim woman’’ who was merely following her ‘‘husband’s diktat’’ and not played an ‘‘active role’’ in the attack. Moreover, it has been argued that Syed and Ansari had been brainwashed by Pakistani nationals in Dubai and had acted ‘‘emotionally’’ in response to the riots in Gujarat.
Nikam called their act cold-blooded and premeditated. He said a lot of planning and preparation had happened in the run-up to the attack and Fehmida was not as passive as was argued.
TOI
The prosecution has demanded capital punishment for Hanif Syed, his wife, Fehmida, and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari for planting two bombs at Gateway and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003 that left so many people dead.
Syed and Fehmida have been found guilty of planting the bomb at Gateway. Ansari delivered the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has termed it a ‘‘rarest of rare’’ case in which the trio had ‘‘enjoyed their act of killing’’. Nikam said they had been unhappy with smaller blasts that resulted in low death tolls and hence used RDX for the twin blasts.
The defence, though, has been vehement in its opposition to the death penalty, especially for Fehmida.
She has been termed an ‘‘uneducated Muslim woman’’ who was merely following her ‘‘husband’s diktat’’ and not played an ‘‘active role’’ in the attack. Moreover, it has been argued that Syed and Ansari had been brainwashed by Pakistani nationals in Dubai and had acted ‘‘emotionally’’ in response to the riots in Gujarat.
Nikam called their act cold-blooded and premeditated. He said a lot of planning and preparation had happened in the run-up to the attack and Fehmida was not as passive as was argued.
TOI
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