Minor girl who identified Kasab is 24 years now, looks for a job

On November 26, 2008, Devika was waiting at Mumbai’s busiest railway station to board a train, along with her father and brother, when she was shot on her right leg. Though very young then, she remembers each and every moment of that dreadful day — people getting shot at and collapsing, others running to save their lives, multiple bodies lying around with blood still flowing…

Devika still experiences shooting pain in her leg occasionally, “sometimes as excruciating as it was on that night, when I had no clue of what was happening and why”, says Devika who had resolved to become an IPS officer to end terrorism. “But eventually life catches on. I will try my best to achieve the dream… Now I am looking for a job to support my family,” she says.

Aware that people may point fingers at her for “speaking too big, too soon with no result to show”, Devika says, “But then they don’t know the struggle I have been through all these years… Amid the struggle to survive, there has been no room to prepare for civil service exams.”

Devika had lost her mother in 2006 to a prolonged illness and her father used to sell dry fruits before the 26/11 attack. However, his business stopped while he was running between hospitals for Devika’s medical treatment. She has two elder brothers — one lives in Pune with his family, while the other one is suffering from a disability due to a infection in the spinal cord. Devika who reovered in three years contracted TB in 2014 and had to go through another round of hospital visits.

Life was not normal for the child who identified a terrorist when she was 11 years old and already underwent six surgeries. The stories of that night, the bullet that pierced her, how she saw Kasab and the day of identifying him in court — she narrates them all with ease but when it comes to sharing her hobbies, likes and dislikes, she struggles.

She started formal schooling only at age 11 and experienced another gap of a few years during Class 10 board exam due to her illness and the wrangles related to her medical treatment. The family is still fighting a legal battle for a home from the state government. However, amid the court case, the Rotawan family shifted to a 1BHK flat in a residential building in Santacruz from a chawl in Bandra slum.

“We have taken this on rent. My brother with disability is working at a stationary shop and earns for the family. But I want to share the responsibility soon as our father is old now and has many health issues,” says Devika adding that one matures with age.

Narrating how she was initially angry at the system when it took so long for Kasab to be hanged, Devika says, “He was living well in prison, whereas our life outside was a struggle. Just because my father and I were among the witnesses who identified Kasab, we were looked at differently. People feel we were facing some death threat and it might harm them if they are associated with us in any way. Finding a house, a school and even expecting support from relatives was difficult.”

“Now I know how important it was to have him alive to know more details,” she says. There is still no peace, she says, adding, “Kasab was just one person sent for the job. What are we doing about the masterminds? Unless all such activities are stopped, there is no guarantee that there will not be another terror attack.”