Special court to deliver verdict in Bilkis Bano rape case

JUDGEMENT DAY: A special court is likely to deliver the judgment in the Bilkis Bano case on Wednesday.

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Mumbai: She was one of the unfortunate faces of the post Godhra riots. One of the survivors of the alleged mass massacre at Devgarh Baria village in Gujarat on March 3, 2002.

Bilkis Bano may have survived, but only after enduring the ordeal of gangrape while she was five months pregnant.

"I have just given birth to a baby. I have undergone a lot of pain, but I still have full faith in judiciary and hope that justice will be done," says she.

Her husband, Sadaam adds, "" We can never forget what happened to us. I don't know how we survived."

The 20 people accused in the case are now in judicial custody and have been charged with:

• Criminal Conspiracy to form unlawful assembly
• Carrying lethal weapons
• Setting houses on fire and looting properties
• Raping women and murder

The accused also include six policemen accused of shielding the guilty and a doctor couple and charged with destruction of evidence.

While the charges are extensive, the trial has had as many twists from beginning in Ahmedabad to being transferred to Mumbai on a Supreme court order in August 2003 after a witnesses complained of being threatened and intimidated.

Judgement day may have arrived for the accused and perhaps for Bilkis Bano, this will be the end to the six-year long ordeal of reliving the ghastly moments of the riots.