Mumbai: A Mumbai special court on Thursday handed down the death sentence to the three people convicted of assembling and planting bombs at Mumbai's Gateway of India and Zaveeri Bazaar in 2003.
As Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimda, and their friend Ashrat were sentenced to death, one of the victim's bother, Dinesh Rakhade, broke down outside the special court. And across town, residents of Zaveri Bazaar thanked God for closure.
Rakhade lost his sister and niece in the Zaveri blast. For others like Deepak Wadhani, it was an emotional moment.
"I won't believe the verdict until it is actually carried out," said Wadhani, Zaveri Bazaar blast victim.
The accused trio called themselves the Gujarat Muslim Revenge Force and conducted blasts to avenge the Gujarat riots. The case against them unravelled soon after the bombings.
The driver in whose taxi the couple planted the Gateway bomb turned a key witness in the case. And a co-conspirator turned approver.
"It will act as a deterrent to all terrorists," said special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
As the verdict was announced, the Hanif and Ashrat stood stoic while Fahimda broke down outside the courtroom. Her tears aside, the death sentenced handed down to the three of them will certainly go a long way to bring the victims of the blasts, a much needed closure.