Mumbai: A 11-year-old girl who was permanently
disabled by the bullets of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab during
the 26/11 terror strikes aims to overcome this handicap and
join the police force.
Devika, who is now on crutches after losing her right leg,
is undaunted by her handicap and is keen to pursue studies in
an English medium school so that she can join the police.
"I don`t want other children to face what I had to go
through. I don`t want people to become a victim of terror. I
will join police force and fight terrorism," said the third
standard girl.
Talking about the ill-fated day that changed her life
Devika said, "How can I forget that night when I saw people
killed in front of me? It was scary and horrible to see all
that. Whenever I see Kasab on TV, I get very angry," said
Devika, who was injured at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.
"We were waiting for a train to Pune. We heard gunshots
and saw two people with guns firing at people just like in
movies. I saw people running helter-skelter. While we
were running, I was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground,"
recalled the girl.
Devika was the youngest witness to identified Kasab in
court during the trail as one of the two gunmen who had opened
fire at her and other passengers at CST.
Her father Natwarlal Rotawan who runs a dry fruit shop at
Kalbadevi in South Mumbai seeks no pardon for Kasab and
wants him hanged in public.
"He has killed innocent people and deserves no mercy.
The court must give him death penalty. That blood-thirsty
Kasab ruined my daughter`s life. Now who will marry her," he
said.
With her dream of joining the police still far away,
Devika has to grapple with reality-- her handicap -- and
misses out on the simple joys of childhood like playing with
other kids.
"When I see others playing, I also feel like playing. I
feel sad that I am unable to play now," the girl said with
moist eyes.
PTI
