Geeta: In Godhra net

Ahmedabad, Nov. 15: A young girl who passed kerosene to a frenzied mob and cheered the slaughter of Muslims six years ago has become the first woman to be taken into custody over the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A special investigation team (SIT) picked up Geeta Rathod, 27, from her house in Naroda-Patia on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on Thursday for being “part of a mob” that killed 89 people on February 28, 2002, in one of the worst massacres of the post-Godhra flare-up.

Several eyewitnesses had named Geeta, who, they said, was handing over kerosene to the mob. “She was even cheering and clapping when Muslims were being butchered,” said Mohammed Salim, then a resident of Naroda-Patia who lost several family members in the carnage.

The witnesses had identified her “as part of the mob”, which is why the police had to arrest her to ascertain other details relating to the riots, said V.D. Chaudhary, a member of the SIT.

The investigators now want to find out who led the mob which carried out the riots, said Chaudhary, who is interrogating Geeta. She is in the SIT’s custody till November 16.

Her father, Ratilal Rathod, an accused in the Naroda-Patia killings, committed suicide three years ago. Rathod and his eldest son, Mukesh Rathod, an advocate practising at the metropolitan court, had been arrested in connection with the rioting in 2003. But the two, both active members of the Sangh, had been given bail within six months.

Ratilal, a state transport bus driver, was described as the “butcher” of Naroda-Patia who allegedly raped a woman during the post-Godhra riots.

Geeta had denied the charge, claiming her father was so religious and devout a person that he was addressed as “Bhavani Shankar”, instead of Ratilal.

However, eyewitnesses swear he raped an eight-month pregnant woman, killed her and slashed open her stomach. He ripped out the foetus, stuck his sword into it and twirled it over his head before burning it.

On October 23, 2005, the last day of Ratilal’s life, the 53-year-old apparently had a change of heart. Acting completely out of character, he invited a Muslim neighbour, Nasir Master, to his home for tea, hugged him and begged his forgiveness for his brutal crime.

Hours later, the “butcher” lay dead on the bank of a canal, a suicide note in his pocket.