‘They raped my friend, slashed her with sword’

On Wednesday, 10-year-old Anisha Kasambhai Mansoori of Naroda-Patiya gave a statement, based on which a case of murder and rape was register...

On Wednesday, 10-year-old Anisha Kasambhai Mansoori of Naroda-Patiya gave a statement, based on which a case of murder and rape was registered by the Crime Branch.

Anisha says she saw her 16-year-old friend, Shabana, being gangraped on February 28 by men ‘‘wearing saffron scarves’’. She says she won’t be able to identify any of them as she had never seen them before.

Anisha Kasambhai Mansoor

Numbed by her mother’s death — who was thrashed and set ablaze — Anisha says she didn’t tell anyone about the rape. When police came asking if anyone had seen sexual assaults or rapes on February 28, she spoke up. ‘‘Shabana was my friend and the beautiful girl in the locality,’’ says Anisha.

Shabana was raped by five men who then slashed her stomach with a sword, the girl says. ‘‘She was breathing when they threw her into the fire. She screamed Ma…’’ she recalls.

Anisha doesn’t know what will happen now. ‘‘If I get some money on her behalf, I will find her parents and give it to them,’’ she says.