Survivors and the kin of those who died in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts welcomed the court's decision to sentence the perpetrators to death as well as life imprisonment.
A special court on Friday handed down the death penalty to 38 persons and sentenced 11 others to life imprisonment for the 21 blasts that took place in a span of 70 minutes on July 26 that year, killing 56 and injuring over 200.
Collegian Yash Vyas, who was a 9-year-old when he suffered severe burn injuries after a bomb blast rocked the trauma ward of the civil hospital in Asarva area, said he and his mother were waiting for this verdict day for the last 13 years.
"I am happy that the court awarded death penalty to 38 persons responsible for killing innocent people, including my father and brother. Even the 11 who were given life imprisonment should have got the death penalty. There should be no mercy for such people," Yash, 22 now and a second-year BSc student, said.
Yash spent four months in the intensive care unit of a hospital with 50 per cent burn injuries, and continues to suffer from partial hearing impairment because of the impact of the explosion.
His father, Dushyant Vyas, was a lab technician in a cancer medical facility located on the civil hospital campus and had, on the fateful day, taken his two sons to an open ground of the hospital to teach them how to ride a bicycle.
”At around 7.30 pm, when my father saw some blast victims being brought in ambulances (from an incident in another area in the city), he decided to help them. As soon as we reached near the civil hospital's trauma ward, an explosion occurred killing my father and 11-year-old brother instantly," Yash said.
As people injured in blasts that were taking place in other parts of the city were being brought into the civil hospital, two blasts ripped the trauma centre, killing patients and kin, medical staff and bystanders.
Among the victims were Dr Prerak Shah, who used to serve in the civil hospital, and his pregnant wife Kinjal. The duo had come to the civil hospital's gynaecology ward for Kinjal's medical check-up.
"I welcome this verdict. I always had trust in police and judiciary that one day I will get justice. However, I feel all 49 guilty persons should have been given the death penalty. Nonetheless, I am satisfied 38 will hang," said Prerak's father Ramesh Shah, a resident of Modasa town.
Jagdish Kadia, who used to sell sandwiches on his cart in Raipur Chakla area of the old city, lost his wife Hasumati Kadia in a blast that occurred near his cart.
"Some19 sharp objects pierced my wife's body due to the blast. I remember my wife everyday and have been living a lonely life since then. I strongly believe even the 11 who were given life imprisonment must hang," the 65-year-old man said.
