Zakia Jafri: Court was unjust to me, will appeal

PTI

Published : Jun 18, 2016, 3:34 am IST

Updated : Jun 18, 2016, 3:34 am IST

Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among the 69 killed in the Gulberg Society massacre, on Friday expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict in the case, saying the court

Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was among the 69 killed in the Gulberg Society massacre, on Friday expressed dissatisfaction over the verdict in the case, saying the court did “injustice” to her.

She also said that she will approach the high court against the verdict of the special SIT court, which on Friday sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment in the case.

Ms Jafri is particularly unhappy with the seven-year jail term awarded to 12 convicts and a 10-year sentence given to one other convict, who were held guilty for lesser offences, not including murder. She also deplored with the acquittal of 36 others in the case.

“I don’t understand why 11 were given life imprisonment and some are given just seven or ten years of imprisonment.

Why this selective approach as they all were part of a violent mob which killed people inside the society This is wrong justice. The court did injustice to me,” Ms Jafri said told reporters.

“I was there in the society when the violent mob brutally killed my husband. He was an MP, yet he was hacked to death and burnt alive in the middle of road. Today’s verdict is not sufficient for such crime. I wished that court had given a life term to all of them who were involved in the crime,” she said.

According to her, those who were acquitted were also guilty and should be punished.

“My fight for justice will continue. Why these 36 were acquitted Did they save any resident of the society They were also part of the mob. I am not at all satisfied with today’s verdict. I will approach the high court against it,” Ms Jafri said.

A special SIT court here on Friday sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment for burning 69 people alive, including Ehsan Jafri, in the 2002 post-Godhra violence.

Ms Jafri’s son Tanvir Jafri said that there was definitely “some sense of closure” at the convictions, but it would have to be seen why some of the accused were not convicted. “We will definitely contest some of the acquittals in the high court,” he said.