Vadodara, June 23
Yasmin Bano, sister-in-law of key witness in the Best Bakery case Zahira Sheikh, has demanded maintenance and her share in the property.
Claiming that she and her family members, including her three-year-old daughter Tanveer, were “starving” even as they continued to stay in the Best Bakery premises, Yasmin also urged the Gujarat Government to come to her family’s rescue.
The estranged wife of Nafitullah, Zahira’s brother, said her in-laws had refused to give her any financial assistance.
“I have been left in the lurch here by my in-laws ever since the March 2002 carnage and neither is there any communication nor is any financial assistance coming forward from them,” she said yesterday.
A fortnight ago, Yasmin had opened a small fire-wood shop in the burnt shell of the Bakery, but the business failed to take off, leaving her with no source of income.
Yasmin, who was hospitalised after being injured in the mob attack on the bakery that left 14 persons dead, criticised Zahira and mother-in-law Sehrunissa for not making her a witness in the case or giving her any part of the compensation they had received from various sources.
Sehrunissa has filed a civil suit against Yasmin, seeking a stay on the repair and construction of the charred Bakery premises that they had abandoned after the carnage, and also her eviction from the bakery on the ground that Yasmin had no right over the property.
Despite
the in-laws’ opposition, Yasmin undertook some repair work and started living in the bakery with her daughter and widowed mother, Ashida, from September 2003.
Disputing Sehrunissa’s charges, Yasmin claimed that she was the second legally wedded wife of Nafitullah, and added that her in-laws wanted to drive her out of the bakery as they had planned to sell it off. —
UNI
