Godhra girl ties the knot

AHMEDABAD: This was supposed to be a big wedding day for Komal Panchal, the girl orphaned with her three sisters in the Godhra carnage of February 27, 2002. But December 6 had other connotations.
The VHP couldn't have found a better surrogate child to bless on this day than Komal who married Pritesh Panchal and stepped into a new life. The wedding guest list seemed to reflect the political swings in the state.No well-known BJP leaders came for this wedding except chief minister Narendra Modi's brother, Prahlad Modi, who is not officially with the BJP.
Leading VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra Maharaj while blessing the couple said that she had "paid a price for being a Hindu" and that her marriage coinciding with the Babri demolition anniversary would take the cause of 'Shaurya Diwas' forward. Komal's parents had died as kar sevaks while returning from Ayodhya in the ill-fated Sabarmati Express.
She looked resplendent in a bright red saree, as she exchanged wedding vows with Pritesh, a young man from Wadaj area of Ahmedabad. Her sisters, Avani, Gayatri and Priyanka, dressed in bright silk sarees and chaniya-choli stood testimony to the first, happy event in their lives since they lost their parents Harshad and Meeta Panchal and two other sisters in the carnage.
The Panchal sisters chose to put Godhra behind them and did not mind Muslim girls applying henna on their hands.
"This is a big day in my life and I hope to be happy and look after my sisters. I also hope that my parents will continue to support me from heaven," Komal said