Terror
On Monday, a judge in Kenya is expected to announce the sentence of 3 suspects accused - among other charges, of conspiring to commit terrorism as per a violent attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi 7 years ago on September 21, 2013, by four Islamist extremists hailing from al-Shabab. Shiksha Arora, a survivor from the incident who was hosting a children's cooking competition live on the sunny Sunday weekend afternoon was when the heavily armed militants with grenades began murdering people all around her.
Trauma
She remembers how a child fell back onto her from a gunshot in the back and how many of the people within the vicinity were paralysed with fear, "People injured, people begging for help, people crying. It was something that is going to stay with me for the rest of my life. Those particular sights and sounds just will continue replaying in my memory and I always have flashbacks of that moment when I was running to the exit." The radio presenter who survived that terrifying day wants justice for others like her colleague who was not so fortunate, "So I'm in anticipation of this verdict and I really do hope that on the day of the sentencing, the judge rules, that these people are responsible for the attack and they get sentenced to death and we can finally move on with lives and get the closure that we truly deserve.
Justice?
The 4-day siege resulted in 67 people losing their lives - with the 4 attackers themselves believed to have been killed in the brutal standoff. Nevertheless, the prosecution had over 140 witnesses that testified in the case.
