Zaheera’s mother turns hostile

Absolutely defiant. That’s how Special Judge Abhay Thipsay described Sehrunissa — mother of prime witness Zaheera Sheikh — wh...

Absolutely defiant. That’s how Special Judge Abhay Thipsay described Sehrunissa — mother of prime witness Zaheera Sheikh — who was declared hostile in the retrial of the Best Bakery carnage at Mazgaon on Wednesday.

Narrating the incidents of the fateful night, she claimed she saw none of the rioters and gave a clean chit to all the persons of her locality. She also said she did not know any of the bakery workers or neighbours since she was always ‘‘parde ke peechhe’’.

Sehrunissa created a flutter in court when she alleged that social activist ‘‘Teesta (Setalvad) goondi’’ and ‘‘Raees (Khan) goonda’’ threatened to shoot her if she did not toe their line in the case for the sake of the community.

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She claimed Teesta ‘‘imprisoned’’ Zaheera and never allowed her to meet her daughter. Sehrunissa said she did not feel any remorse over the death of her daughter Saira who died in the incident saying at least she would not have to bear her marriage expenses.

Earlier, Sehrunissa was also pulled up by the judge when she started smiling while being examined by special public prosecutor Manjula Rao. When Rao told her she was in court for a serious matter, Sehrunissa said, ‘‘Sab jagah hua hai.’’

This enraged the judge who blasted her saying, ‘‘Do you mean to say there should be no trial and punishment for the guilty? Start behaving or action can be taken against you.’’

Narrating an impossible incident, Sehrunissa said, ‘‘I went with my son Nasibullah from Mira Road to VT in an autorickshaw to lodge a complaint against Teesta.’’

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Incidentally, autorickshaws ply only till Bandra and not till VT.