Mumbai attacks lawyer targeted

MUMBAI (Agencies) - The lawyer appointed to represent the lone militant captured during the Mumbai attacks asked for time to consider her position on Tuesday, after incensed Hindu fanatics targeted her home. I am under a lot of pressure. Give me one day to decide and think over it, Anjali Waghmare told a judge at a Mumbai court, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. Waghmare was only selected from the state govts legal aid team to defend Ajmal Kasab. Hours later, Shiv Sena activists shouted slogans and pelted stones at her central Mumbai home, enraged at her acceptance of the brief and urging her to withdraw. People from this area have laid down their lives fighting terrorists and she, despite hailing from this region, has taken up the defence case, Indias NDTV channel quoted Shiv Sena member Ajay Ch as saying. This infuriated people. Kasab had been without legal representation since his arrest on Nov 26 last year, soon after a group of 10 gunmen stormed Indias financial and entertainment hub. Many people, including some lawyers, have said he should be denied a brief, while the Shiv Sena have said the 21-year-old should be hanged without trial. Other lawyers who said they would represent him were condemned as unpatriotic and the homes of some were ransacked.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt