Who is Devika Rotawan, youngest 26/11 eyewitness?

Devika Rotawan was 9 years old when she was shot by at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in the deadly 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008. Nearly 14 years later, Devika, a young woman now, spoke about her traumatic experience with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who arrived in Mumbai to pay tribute to the victims of the 26/11 attacks.

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Who is Devika Rotawan?

Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and an accomplice shot dead 58 people and injured over 100 at the busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the first of multiple sites in Mumbai that terrorists struck in a single night. Devika Rotawan, who was at the station with her brother and father, was shot in the leg. Her father and brother were injured too.

Rotawan became the youngest 26/11 eyewitness. She identified Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker caught alive, from a lineup in court.

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Now 23, Rotawan wants to pursue a career in law and enforcement in order to combat terrorism. “I told him I was injured at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus & identified Ajmal Kasab in the court. I also told him I want to study & become an officer, end terrorism,” Rotawan said, talking about her meeting with Guterres, ANI reported.

Following the terror attacks, the police approached Devika’s father and asked him to testify in court. According to the popular Facebook page Humans of Bombay, she revealed that her family members had asked her not to testify because they were afraid for their lives. Devika walked to court on crutches in June 2009, seven months after the attacks, to identify Kasab.

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‘I immediately recognized Ajmal Kasab’

Rotawan told the Facebook page, “I was barely 10 years old when a bullet pierced my right leg… I saw the man who shot straight at me. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital the next day. The doctor informed us about what took place on 26/11. I wasn’t scared, I wanted him to be punished. Out of the four men presented to me, I immediately recognized Ajmal Kasab.”

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Devika went on to say that as a result of her testimony in court, “everyone disassociated” from her family, and her father had to close his fruit shop. Rotawan also added that her father and brother were unable to work due to a variety of morbidities.

26/11 terrorist attack

On November 26, 2008, ten heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists sailed into Mumbai from Karachi, killing 166 people and injuring over 300. They divided into pairs and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks on the city’s landmarks over the course of the following 72 hours, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Trident, Cama Hospital, a Jewish community centre and Leopold Cafe among others. The lone gunman who survived the 2008 Mumbai attacks of 26/11 was Ajmal Kasab. On November 21, 2012, the then-25-year-old was hanged in a quick and covert execution at Pune’s Yerwada Jail.