11, Nov 2009

November 11, 2009
The DNA

Rupa Mody identifies Erda,
others in court

In jam-packed courtroom,
Gulbarg survivor narrates the hell she has been through

DNA Correspondent.
Ahmedabad

In a jam-packed courtroom
of judge BU Joshi, Gulbarg society survivor Rupa Mody narrated her
plight, a true story that was captured in the movie Parzania. In the
court, she identified the then police inspector of Meghaninagar, KG
Erda.

Rupa lived under Erda’s
jurisdiction and the inspector was supposed to take care of her safety
in the height of the riots. But Erda not only remained indifferent to
the happenings at Gulbarg, but also later got her signature in an
affidavit the contents of which were fake.
On Tuesday, prime accused in the case, VHP leader Atul Vaidya, BJP
leaders Pradeep Parmar, ex-councillor Chunilal Prajapati and sitting
councillor Bipin Patel, and another accused Bharat Teli, were also
present in the court. Rupa identified them all. A grim-looking Rupa
reached the fast track court, accompanied by three women CISF
personnel. She is one of few select witnesses in the riot cases who
have been provided security cover.

None of her family
members and relatives accompanied Rupa. Rupa, along with her husband
and two children, lived in Gulbarg society at the time of the riots.
They lost their son Azar in the riots. Now they live with their
daughter in Thaltej area. Rupa, after taking oath in Parsi, was asked
several questions about the incident by defence as well as prosecution
lawyers. She sobbed many a times while narrating the sad incident of
her son who went missing in the riots. Sixty-nine persons were killed
in the Gulburg society incident.

She told the court that
she had filed the application for reinvestigation of the case on her
own and had not taken any help of any lawyers or NGO activists. She
told the court that she had been living in Gulbarg society seven years
prior the incident and she knew Ahesan Jafri as Jafri was society’s
chairman.