Waiting outside a special sessions court on Monday morning, Narmadaben, mother of Gulberg society massacre convict Dilip Chaturbhai Parmar, waved an invite to a three-day religious event in Gandhinagar for which, she claimed, her entire family had gone for on the fateful day of February 28, 2002, when the incident took place.

“They have caught the poorest of the poor in this case. My son was with us on that day… He was the only earning member in our family and now, we don’t know what the future holds,” she said, pointing towards her paralysed husband and her son’s fiancée Bhartiben. Narmadaben was outside the court waiting for it to pronounce punishment, days after 24 people were found guilty — 11 for serious offences — in the case on June 2. The hearing on punishment will continue on Thursday.

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Like Narmadaben, relatives of other convicts too questioned the verdict. A common refrain — “He could not even kill a mosquito, how can he be punished for killing people” — echoed outside the court. Even as they appeared resolved to fight an uphill legal battle for their wards, for most it would be a period of illnesses, broken dreams and financial duress.

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A distraught Pushpaben, sister of another convict Lakhansinh Chudasama, said, “Politics is being used against our men. All those with money and influence have got away. We are poor and have no one to speak for us. I am supporting my brother by running a beauty parlour.”

Mumbai resident Pavan Jain, brother of Mangilal Jain, too was outside the court to support him. “If needed, we will take a loan against the house to appeal for justice for my brother,” he said.

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Harish, 11, was at the court with his elder sister Dinkal and uncle Mahendra Rajput. As Harish waited to catch a glimpse of his father Bharat Rajput, another convict, his words belied a seventh grader who underwent a surgery three years ago due to a hole in his heart. Upset with the judgment, he said, “I want to be a judge when I grow up.”

His uncle Mahendra Rajput said, “My brother used to work as a diamond polisher, but jobs disappeared after repeated trials and summons in the Gulberg case. I and another sibling are taking care of his family now. His wife cuts vegetables at home for others to earn a living.”

The Rajput family is now scurrying around arrange a fee of Rs 10 -15 lakh for Bharat’s legal battle ahead, said Mahendra. He said the family spent Rs 2.5 lakh on Harish’s cardiac operation, and buys his medicines as and when there is money.

The trial has tested neighbours, blood relations and friendships alike. As many as 25 neighbours of Champaben — resident of Chamanpura and mother of convict Krishnakumar — waited outside the court in support of her family, so were her relative Krishnaben from Phanma village in Rajasthan and Ajay Mishra, Krishnakumar’s “cricket buddy”.

Reacting to the anger on display among relatives of the convicts, BJP’s Shahpur councillor Kaushik Jain, who was at the venue, said,”Many could not identify the accused and this lack of evidence led to many being freed, including corporator Bipin Patel.” Many VHP workers were also around.

As news of the verdict being deferred filtered out at noon, close relatives and friends of the convicts thronged an entrance of the court blocked by two police vans. In this huddle was Prakash Patil, friend of convicted VHP leader Atul Vaidya. He said, “I am 99 per cent sure that he will be freed soon.”

Jyotsnaben, wife of convict Dharmesh Shukla, wanted to break the police cordon to give her husband some water and home food. She was heard telling a relative over phone — “It is like a movie release here”.

At around 1.45 pm, convicts were led amid a tight police cordon to the parked vans. Around 2 pm when the convicts began to leave in police vans, cries of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and their names, yelled out by family and friends, filled the air. However, soon sobs were heard too.