2003 Mumbai blasts: Prosecution demands death sentence

The trio were held guilty of planting two bombs that exploded at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25,2003,claiming 52 lives and injuring 244. They had also planted a bomb on July 28,2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons. This is for the first time a couple have been found guilty of terror acts under POTA.

When judge M R Puranik asked the convicts what they had to say,Ansari replied,”Mujhe manzoor nahin hai (the verdict is not acceptable to me)”. Fahmida said,”I have not done anything. Ek aurat ko atankwadi tehrarahe ho. Meri bachi bhi lawaris hai (You are treating a woman as terrorist. My child has become an orphan).”

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the trio had carried out designs of the Laskhar-e-Toiba to create terror in India by carrying out explosions in various places in Mumbai. It was the rarest of the rare case and they should be given death penalty.

Citing Supreme Court judgments to demand the death penalty,prosecutor Nikam argued that the convicts were exceptionally cruel and had total disregard for human lives. Fahimida,although a woman,participated in the crime willingly and no one had compelled her to assist her husband in terrorist acts.

But defence lawyer Sudeep Pasbola said Fahmida came from the lower strata of society and had children to look after. She came from a traditional Muslim family where males dominate. Fahmida had merely followed her husband in the crime as she had no choice. She deserves lesser punishment,he argued.

Lawyer Wahab Khan argued that Hanif did not have criminal antecedents. He had gone to Dubai to earn a living but was lured into a conspiracy by Pakistani nationals after he was shown CDs of atrocities on Muslims. He sought a life sentence for Hanif.

According to the prosecution,LeT had used a family for the first time to trigger bomb blasts in Mumbai. LeT’s role was bared by an accused-turned-approver who told the court that the conspiracy meeting was held in Dubai. LeT activists had come from Pakistan to attend the meeting,the approver said. The motive behind the blasts was to seek vengeance for the atrocities meted against the minority community during the Godhra carnage in Gujarat in 2002.

On August 25,2003,two bombs placed in taxis exploded at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai. Hanif,Nasir and Ansari made bombs at the former’s Andheri house. Nasir,a resident of Hyderabad,was killed by police after the blasts in an encounter.