I Am Alive Because I Am a Sannyasin – Sadhvi Pragya
After the verdict, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur broke down in the courtroom. Joining her hands, she addressed Judge Abhay Lohati, saying, “I was tortured for 13 days. My life was ruined. I was humiliated for 17 years. They branded me a terrorist in my own country.” She described this not just as her victory but as a victory for the entire “Bhagwa” (saffron). She stated that from the beginning, her stance was that there should be a solid basis for summoning someone for investigation. But she was forcibly arrested, tortured, and her life was destroyed. “I was living the life of a sannyasin, yet I was made an accused,” she said emotionally. “I am alive today because I am a sannyasin. They conspired to defame the Bhagwa. Today, Bhagwa has won, Hindutva has won, and God will punish the guilty.”Pragya Singh Thakur Innocent – Court
The court made several important observations in its judgment. Special Judge Abhay Lohati said that while the prosecution proved that the blast occurred in Malegaon, it failed to prove that the bomb was planted in the motorcycle attributed to Pragya Singh Thakur, nor could it be proven that the bike belonged to her. Questioning the investigation, the court stated that forensic samples were not collected properly, no sketch of the crime scene was prepared, and no fingerprints, dump data, or anything else was collected. The court also found that the victims’ medical records were tampered with and the actual number of injured was 95, not 101.
Regarding the charges against Lieutenant Colonel Shrikanth Prasad Purohit, the court stated that no explosives were recovered from his house, and it could not be proven that he prepared the bomb or arranged for the RDX.
In its judgment, the court ordered the Maharashtra government to pay ₹200,000 to the families of those killed in the blast and ₹50,000 to the injured as compensation. On the night of 29 September 2008, at 9:35 pm, during the month of Ramadan, a bomb blast occurred near a mosque near Bhikku Chowk in Malegaon city. Six people were killed and 95 were injured in the blast. The responsibility for investigating this case was initially given to the Maharashtra ATS, led by then ATS chief Hemant Karkare. However, before the mystery of the Malegaon bomb blast could be solved, Karkare was martyred in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Later, the case was handed over to the NIA.
