Relief writ large on Isubi Sheikh's face. Her son Muhammed Jaffer Nawab Sheikh, who was only 20 when he aws arrested by the police for his alleged involvement in the murder of six of a family during the January, 1993, riots in Mumbai, will walk finally free from Yerawda Jail, Pune, next week.

``I was confident of his innocence and had full faith in God,'' she said. Muhammed, an autorickshaw driver, was the sole breadwinner of the family of eight. ``After he was taken away, I became a heart patient like my husband. I kept the house running by becoming a water bearer,'' she said. She has been living there since her childhood in Prem Nagar, neighbouringRadhabai.

Most of the other accused were similarly breadwinners for their families. Badshah Khan's son, Muhammed Kasim, also drove an auto, as did Iqbal Sheikh, a father of two. Badshah Khan said he would only believe his son's acquital when he sees him in person. ``It is hard to believe,'' he says, recounting how the police had landed up at 4 am two years and taken his son away.

``I had two daughters, aged 22 and 25, and my son will be 28 now,'' added Badshah, who had to open a chicken shop to sustain the family. ``The police used to beat the boys in custody. They beat my brother's sons who were released in 1996. One of the boys is still emotionally disturbed and is unable to work,'' he stated.

The stench of underlying fear still stays, though, even after the judgement. Even as the residents eagerly await the boys' return, there is a word of advice, and caution, by women running a Mahila Mandal in the same Gandhi chawl where the burning incident took place: ``While it is good that the innocent havebeen freed, those who committed the crime must be punished.''