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Journalism of Courage
A chilling tale of the post-Godhra riots, the killing of pregnant Kausar Banu, was told by two women of Naroda-Patiya, to the Godhra commission today. Deposing before retired Justices G.T. Nanavati and K.G. Shah, Zareena Sheikh, a resident of Hussain Nagar slums, claimed she had witnessed the killing of Kausar Bano on February 28, 2002, whose ‘‘stomach was slit open, foetus removed, whipped over the tip of the sword and later flung away’’.
Six of Sheikh’s family members were attacked the same day. Sheikh said Kausar and her daughter scaled a wall, dividing their locality and Gopinath Society, and landed in front of a mob. Kausar attempted to escape but fell unconscious after being hit on the head, she said.
Sulekha Bano Sardar Ahmed Chaudhary, a vegetable vendor, also told the commission that she had seen her cousin Kausar being burnt to death. Sulekha said as Kausar was pregnant, she was not able to escape the mob which attacked a small room in the adjoining Gopinath Society where she had — along with several other women — taken shelter during the attack.
‘‘We could hear her screaming,’’ she said. She also alleged that several other young girls and women of the locality were raped. She named one Zubeida, her husband and three children among other people whom she had seen being set ablaze.
