New Delhi: A key witness in the controversial Best Bakery case in Gujarat, Saharunnisa Shaikh, on July 6 said she had made a "false" statement in the special court, which had acquitted all the 21 accused persons, as she "is under threat".

"What I said was false," she told 'Aaj Tak' when asked whether her statement inside the special court was true or false.

"Everybody loves his or her life. We love our life. I do not know who threatened us… But we were threatened," she said.

Asked who had threatened her, she said, "It was inside the court. The people... the Hindus, were standing there. They threatened us. We are scared."

To a question whether she or her 19-year old daughter Zahira would make a statement before the team of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which was coming to Gujarat, the woman said, "I don't know what statement I will make. My daughter knows that I am under pressure."

A majority of the witnesses including Zahira had turned hostile and all the accused were acquitted for want of evidence.

PTI