Godhra carnage killed women in my family: Nikunj Patel
Among the 59 passengers who burnt to death in the S6 coach of Sabarmati Express at Godhra in 2002, 27 were women. As the High Court is set to give its judgment on a plea challenging the trial court’s verdict that convicted 31 accused, of whom 11 were awarded capital punishment and the remaining 20 were given life term, the families of the victims say they expect nothing less than justice.
The trial court’s judgement had not gone down well either side. While the families of victims said they had expected harsher punishment for all convicts, the kin of the accused said they had expected justice.
Recalling the day in 2002, when he heard his mother had died, Nikunj Patel, from Run village of Kheda district, says he was just 14 then. His mother Manjulaben and another female member of his family had died in the carnage.
“We were not happy with the trial court verdict. We were expecting punishment to all those arrested for the ghastly act. We expect the accused and their families to go through all that we had to suffer all these years. I had to cook for three men in my family and do all the domestic work …read more