JOIN US Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rama Sawant Waghule said Kasab showed no remorse for his offence and said he wanted to confess so that others might derive inspiration from him.
The magistrate had recorded Kasab’s confession on February 20 and 21 this year. Kasab later retracted the confession in the trial court saying his statement was recorded under duress and that he had not given it voluntarily.
The magistrate is being examined by the prosecution to prove that Kasab had given a voluntary statement, laying bare not only his own role in various acts of terror on November 26 night, but the role of attacks mastermind Hafeez Saeed, who is reportedly under house arrest in Pakistan.
Waghule said she followed legal process to ensure Kasab was confessing voluntarily. When she had asked him whether he was confessing under police pressure, Kasab had replied “no,” Waghule said.
The magistrate said she had informed Kasab of the consequences of a confession before a magistrate and gave him 24 hours to reflect on his decision.
“I also asked him whether there was any promise or force exerted upon him to confess and I also reminded him again that it was not obligatory on his part to confess and also that it would be used against him in the trial for sentencing him,” Vagule said.
“I also conducted a physical examination on Kasab and found that he had two injuries on his wrist which he said he had sustained during firing in the attacks,” Vagule said.
Kasab was again given 48-hours to reconsider and was produced before the magistrate on February 20. He once again reiterated that he wanted to confess voluntarily but since the Court time was over, he was asked to come the next day.
Finally, his confession was recorded on February 21 when he was produced without handcuffs before her, the magistrate told the court.
Magistrate satisfied
“After questioning Kasab, I was satisfied that he was ready to confess without any force and was doing so voluntarily. His confession was then recorded by me,” she said.
Since some words were in Urdu, the confession was recorded in question-answer form, Waghule said. All pages have signatures of Kasab and the magistrate. The confession was shown to the magistrate who said it was the same confession she had recorded that day.
The move to examine the magistrate is considered significant because Kasab had retracted his confession in the trial court.