'I want my daughter to grow up in a safe India'

Bilkis Bano, at a press conference in New Delhi

Asked if she would have preferred death penalty for the accused, Godhra riot victim Bilkis Bano said, “The horrors I suffered deserve the maximum punishment, but I do not want anyone else to die in my name. I want justice, not revenge. What’s important for me is that my daughter grows up in an India that is safe for her.”

Ms. Bano’s husband, Yakub Rasool, said the verdict had shown that justice was still possible in today’s India. “Our faith in the judicial system has been vindicated. Now my daughter wants to become a lawyer,” he said.