Acquitted by court, condemned by sons

She spent 13 precious years of her life behind bars on being convicted of conspiring to kill her husband before the Calcutta High Court acquitted her. But on Thursday, just a day after her acquittal, Aparajita Bose found her sons condemning her.

"It is a matter of sorrow that a housewife had to spend 13 long years behind bars due to an incorrect lower court verdict," a bench of the Calcutta High Court observed while ordering her acquittal Wednesday.

Aparajita Bose hoped that judgment would help her find acceptance with her two sons, and that her family life, brutally shattered by the murder of her husband 13 years ago, would gradually return to normal.

Her two sons, however, have now said that they want nothing to do with her, as she had ruined their lives. At the time of her conviction by the lower court, they were toddlers - the older was five years old and the younger just three-and-half.

The woman was arrested in 2000 after her mother-in-law filed a police complaint.

A city court September 2003 convicted her, along with co-accused and alleged "paramour" Nantu Roy, and sentenced them to life imprisonment in the May 26, 2000, murder of her husband Kunal, an executive.

"Will I get back my 13 years? Will I be able to get back my husband or the childhood of my sons? My only solace now is getting back my sons. But will they accept me? Will their love be the same?" Aparajita said on hearing the acquittal verdict of the high court.

Her fears came true, as both her young sons now claim they cannot ever reconcile with the woman who "ruined our lives".

"I have been brought up by my grandmother and my aunt. They are my mothers. They have given me love, affection and everything I need. She (Aparajita) can't be my mother," the elder son said.

Echoing his brother's views, the younger son said: "She will never ever get to see us. Not in this life. We don't care what the courts say. We will never call her our mother."