Refusing to be drawn into comparisons with the recent death penalty verdict in the Nirbhaya case, Bilkis Bano said in New Delhi on Monday that she wanted justice and not revenge, and was therefore, happy with the Bombay High Court judgment in her case.
Ms. Bano was 19 years old and pregnant when she was gang-raped on March 3, 2002 during the post-Godhra Gujarat riots. Fourteen members of her family, including her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, were murdered by a mob.
Ms. Bano was the only adult survivor and eyewitness to the massacre. On May 4, the Bombay High Court upheld the conviction of the 11 accused in her case, and overturned the acquittals of seven others by a lower court, delivering a guilty verdict on a total of 18 individuals, including five policemen and two doctors.
“My faith in the Constitution and in the idea of justice has been upheld, and for that I am truly grateful to the honourable judges,” Ms. Bano said, addressing the media for the first time after the High Court verdict.
Asked if she would have preferred death penalty for the accused, she 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.
Asked about the recent spate of attacks on Muslims and Dalits by cow vigilante groups, Mr. Rasool said, “I come from a family of cattle traders. It is our traditional occupation. But now there is so much fear due to cow vigilantism, I and my relatives, who have supported me all these years, have lost our livelihoods. I don’t know how we are going to manage in the future.”
Pathbreaking verdict
Vijay Hiremath, who represented Ms. Bano in the Bombay High Court, said the verdict was a historic one. “This is the first time that the court has convicted State officials, including five policemen, for destroying evidence and shielding the accused in the context of communal violence,” he said.
“The indictment of the Gujarat police was one of the biggest victories in the case,” said Dr. N.C. Saxena, retired civil servant and former member, Planning Commission.
