Fahim’s wife Yasmin could not believe her ears, although she was full of hope. Every day during the hearing she would come to the court with a tiffin for her husband and both would talk to each other for some time during the recess with the court’s permission.
When the judgement was delivered, Yasmin, covered in a burqa, began crying. She was unable to speak for some time. When she spoke, what came out was her real worry. “I fear they might take him to Barelli in Uttar Pradesh,” Yasmin, shivering with joy, said.
Fahim was caught in Uttar Pradesh in connection with a ‘fidayeen’ attack on Rampur CRPF camp by terrorists, and is facing trial there.
Since his arrest, Fahim’s family lives in Mumbai in a one-room house, where most of them, including his eight-year-old daughter Ikra, were glued to the TV set since morning.
When the news about Fahim’s acquittal was flashed on the TV screen, the family members burst into joy. “We never had any doubt about his innocence. We are very happy and relived that he has been finally acquitted,” said Mohamed Ismail Ansari, Fahim’s father-in-law.
The family credits Fahim’s acquittal to the hard work put up by Fahim’s lawyer Shahid Azmi, who was gunned down a few months back by underworld in his office at Kurla suburb.
Little Ikra was never told about her father’s arrest and the trial. All these months she was told that he has gone to Dubai for work. But now the truth has been imparted to her, which she hardly understands.
DH News Service
