Neighbours of 40 years treated us like outcasts

Brother of blast convict Fehmida Sayyed tells Anushree Pardeshi about the horror of being a terror suspect's relative

Brother of blast convict Fehmida Sayyed tells Anushree Pardeshi about the horror of being a terror suspect's relative

While the survivors of the 2003 twin blasts and their relatives rejoiced after the court sentenced the guilty to death, for one man a victim in his own right there was little cause for joy.

Sayyed Hassan's life has been a trial by fire ever since his sister Fehmida Sayyed's involvement in the blasts came to light.

Terrorist: Fehmida Sayyed is escorted to the trial court yesterday where she was later sentenced to death. But her brother Sayyed Hassan believes she's innocent.

Hassan said that the blasts turned him into an outcast in his neighbourhood the BEST Drivers Chawl at Koli Dongri.

Following his sister's arrest, neighbours with whom he had lived amicably for 40 years started suspecting him and his family.

Shamed

Said Hassan, "Chills run down my spine whenever I think of the day Fehmida and her husband Sayyed Mohammed Hanif were arrested. Dealing with people after that became very shameful for us.

Till date, whenever I see a cop, I recall the shock of the incident and the torture of being constantly questioned by them."

The incident not only chased Hassan's family away from their old neighbourhood, it even compelled him to leave his job as an auto driver.

Since then, the family has been maintaining a low profile. While Hassan works in a garage and lives in the Sahar gaon slums near Mumbai airport, his family along with Hanif's daughter Farheen u2014 stays in a slum near Pune airport.

According to Inspector Vinayak Saude, Crime Branch (Andheri), "Hassan has nothing to do with the case. As for Hanif and Fehmida, they have been given the strictest punishment possible."

'She's innocent'

Hassan, however, maintains, "My sister is innocent. She was ruthlessly blamed by the cops in this case."
But he hopes that the verdict will finally end this traumatising chapter of his life.
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"It has been a tense six years now and I have not seen my sister in all this time. I pray that the verdict brings peace to all of us," he said.

The Hanif kids

Farheen (21), the terror couple's daughter, has been married for two years and lives in Pune with her husband.
Their son, Irfan, has no connection with the family.

Said Hassan, "I have not met or heard from Irfan after he got married three years ago. Irfan always had a strained relationship with his father and left their house after his marriage."
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He now works in a mobile shop in Saki Naka and lives in Navi Mumbai.