Naroda riots case: Doc says pregnant woman died of burns

Naroda Patiya riot victims had alleged Babu Bajrangi and Guddu Chara, two of the accused in the case, had slit open a pregnant woman Kausar Banu's abdomen with a sword and took out her foetus and threw it into fire.

Dr Jayant Kanoria, who was in-charge of postmortem at the city civil hospital in 2002, today told designated judge Jyotsna Yagnik that he had conducted the post mortem on the body of Kausar and two others on March 2, 2002.He said Kausar, who was pregnant, died due to shock after she sustained third degree burn injuries.

Kanoria further told the court that there were no external injury marks on her body and the foetus which was also dead was inside her womb.During post mortem, the foetus was taken out and no injury marks were found on it also, the doctor said, adding the foetus was of a male child weighing 2.5 kg with height of about 47cm.

Kanoria is now posted at government hospital in Nadiad district.
During post-Godhra riots in Naroda Patiya area, 95 persons of the minority community were killed on February 28, 2002. The Naroda Patiya case is being investigated by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan.

SIT has filed a charge-sheet against over 60 persons in the case which include former minister in the Narendra Modi government Maya Kodnani.Some of the witnesses in the case have identified Kodnani in the open court and said they had seen her instigating the mob during riots in Naroda area eight years ago.

Trial in the nine cases investigated by the SIT is on in special courts formed by the Gujarat High court on the directions from the Apex Court.