KOLHAPUR, Dec 4: A packed courtroom today witnessed in silence an emotional Pratibha Mohan Gavit, mother of Kranti, who was murdered by the Gavits, sobbing in the witness box and crying hey mazhya mulila parat denar aahet ka! (will these accused bring back my daughter).Pratibha was deposing before the Additional Sessions Judge G L Yedke in the sensational Anjanabai Gavit abduction and murder case. During examination-in-chief by public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, Pratibha, who served as nurse in Pune, recalled the kidnapping incident of her daughter.She said that she had married Mohan Gavit at Alandi in 1986 and shifted to Nashik in 1987. She further informed the court that she was the second wife of Mohan, who had earlier married the main accused Anjanabai. Kranti was in the third standard in the Nashik municipal school when she was kidnapped.Pratibha identified accused Renuka and Seema in the court premises as her step-daughters. She also revealed that Renuka was called variously as Ratan and Rinku, whileSeema was nicknamed Devaki.On August 29, 1995, Renuka and Seema had gone to Pratibha's house in Panchavati area of Nashik. They told her that their mother, Anjanabai wanted to meet Kranti. And, despite Mohan's protests managed to take Kranti back with them promising that she would be brought back the next morning.They also gave their Nashik address, which was later discovered to be bogus, she said.Pratibha said that the accused, Kranti in tow, left the house by an autorickshaw. When she was not returned as promised, Pratibha and husband Mohan started a frantic search for her and inquired at many places including relatives homes at Pune and Dhule apart from the address the accused had given them.Events took a turn when on October 20, 1996, Pratibha chanced upon the two accused in the marketplace. When Pratibha enquired about Kranti, they alleged ``since Pratibha had spoiled their mother's life they would hand Kranti back''.Pratibha and Mohan lodged a police complaint. She and her husbandaccompanied a police search at the residences of the accused who were finally arrested near the market area of Nashik.Further, Pratibha disclosed before the court that on October 10, 1996, her second daughter Devali's teachers Navale and Pranerkar informed them that two unknown ladies had approached the teachers and were insisting on sending Devali with them saying that her younger sister was not feeling well. When this didn't work they even tried to bribe the teachers with a sum of Rs 1000. However, both the teachers refused their requests.
