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| Verdict awaited in Bilkis Bano case |
| Today, the Additional Sessions Judge UD Salvi is expected to deliver the verdict in the trial.
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| INDIA
, 18-January-2008
2:28:19 AM |
| It was nearly six years ago, when a communal fire raged in Randhikpur, a sleepy town 250 km away from Ahmedabad.
That incident ruined Bilkis Bano's life, 17 members of her family were attacked in the riots that followed the Godhra train carnage. Eight were killed and six went missing.
Today, the Additional Sessions Judge UD Salvi is expected to deliver the verdict in the trial.
''In the last five years, my suffering has been endless. I have not even been able to stay in one place. I am consumed with fear,'' said Bilkis Bano, Gujarat riot victim.
She is one of the faces of the Gujarat riots. In a rare interview earlier this year, Bilkis Bano told NDTV of her fight for justice.
A fight that will end this week, when her case in trial, which started in January 2005 will finally conclude.
The case dates back to March 3, 2002, during the Gujarat riots, when a pregnant Bilkis was allegedly gangraped, beaten up and left for dead.
She says she was witness to the massacre of 14 family members. But the Gujarat government closed her case, gave bail to all the accused and Bilkis moved the Supreme Court.
''They killed my daughter by smashing her on a stone. I was carrying her. Then they caught me and took me away. I kept telling them, ''You are from my own village, save my girl, save my family.'' They did not listen. They raped me,'' said Bilkis Bano.
The case was transferred out of Gujarat to Maharashtra on the April 6, 2004, making it the second Gujarat riot case after Best Bakery to be tried in a special Mumbai court.
The trial was held 'in camera' not open to the media or the public. This is also one of the few cases in the riots, where the prosecution managed to get 17 of the 20 accused, including six policemen behind bars.
''She has named specifically those who raped her, and those who murdered her daughter,'' said R. K. Shah, Public Prosecutor.
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