A post-Godhra riot victim has said she has written to the chief justice of India and the Gujarat government seeking reopening of a case closed by the police.
"Through an advocate based in Rajkot, I have also sent the names and details of the seven accused persons I witnessed killing my husband, brother-in-law and a local priest," Naseembano Chauhan, a resident of Dariapur locality in Ahmedabad, said.
Chauhan had witnessed the killing of the three persons at Rajkot city on February 28, 2002.
Chauhan said her in-laws refused to let her stay with them in Rajkot and she had to shift to Ahmedabad with her mother for the benefit of her four minor kids almost immediately after the incident.
"I had got Rs 90,000 as compensation for the death of my husband from the Rajkot administration and had almost given up hope of getting any justice when an advocate approached us and inspired us to write to the chief justice to consider our case," Chauhan said.
Bapabhai Memon, the Rajkot-based advocate who has taken up the victim's matter, said, "I have sent all details to the Supreme Court along with their application seeking deeper probe in the case and also consider the names of the accused persons given in the FIR of the case, which was closed on July 6, 2002.
"The Special IGP (Rajkot Range) Rajan Priyadarshi assured that Naseembano's case would be investigated once he was over with cases of Rajkot rural, Surendranagar and Jamnagar districts. I am taking various statements of witnesses and preparing an airtight case."
Chauhan said the Rajkot police neglected her statements even though she said she knew that those who killed the three were from their own locality and were led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal leaders.
Narrating the incident Naseembano said, "A mob of around 1,000 people attacked us when they were at the market yard. First my husband was hacked to pieces and then they threw some sort of chemical on him. I began running away with my children when I saw that my brother-in-law was also killed in a similar manner. Then I saw the brutal murder of the nearby masjid's mujavir.