Eleven years, ago on November 26, horrific terror attacks rocked the city of Mumbai. The attacks took the lives of 166 people and leftover 300 people injured.
While many people took to social media to pay tribute to the martyrs, many survivors of the attacks shared their inspiring stories. And some of these are leaving the internet emotional.
A post about a 26/11 attack survivor is going viral online and it will also leave you teary-eyed. Humans of Bombay took to their page today to post Devika story and her journey after she survived 26/11.
According to the post, Devika was shot on the leg by Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist who was captured alive after the attacks. Devika testified in the court against Kasab, who was arrested and subsequently executed in November 2012.
Devika explained in the post that when the attacks happened she was only 10 years old and was at the CST station.
See Post Here:
"I was barely 10 years old when a bullet pierced my right leg. It happened at CST station. I was with my father and brother and we had stopped for a while to use the restroom. Before we knew it, chaos had erupted all around us. My instinct told me to run and that when I saw the man who shot straight at me. I felt so much pain I collapsed," she said.
She further added, "The doctor informed us about what took place on 26/11. I was so angry. Flashbacks of women and children dying at the station came back to me. But the clearest memory I had was of his face. I spent 1.5 months in the hospital being operated for the wound, but I couldn’t get his face out of my mind.
As soon as I was better, I moved back to my village with my family. My father was contacted by the police to testify in court. We had to identify the attacker since we were some of the only survivors. I wasn’t scared, I wanted him to be punished. Our extended family stopped talking to us after this decision they thought they would be attacked by terrorists because we were testifying.
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I walked to court in crutches. Out of the four men presented to me, I immediately recognised Ajmal Kasab. My heart was filled with anger. I wanted justice right there."
The incident inspired Devika to become an IPS officer. But the decision to testify at the court came at a cost for the family, "I thought I was being brave, but after this everyone disassociated from us. My father dry fruit shop shut down because no one wanted to do business with him. Our landlords hiked the rent because they think we’ve made money out of the publicity."
She also added, "Even though Ajmal Kasab is no more, my anger will only fully subside once I become an IAS officer and fight all this injustice. Till date, I can’t enjoy Diwali or celebrate India win in Cricket because the sound of fireworks traumatizes me -- I know I’m not getting all these years back, but there will be an answer someday. They will face the consequence of raising a finger towards India I will make sure of it."