Tomorrow on Monday The SC will pronounce its verdict on the #BilkisBano case.

Tomorrow on Monday The SC will pronounce its verdict on the #BilkisBano case. 

In the Era of 'Alpha Male' sharing struggle of the Iron Lady that began on 28th March 2002. 

"I will stand & fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right," she said after the remission of those 11 convicts on 15th August 2022. 

Ironically it was the same day PM Modi asked Indians to take a pledge not to do anything that lowers the dignity of women. 

Whatever the judgment may be announced tomorrow History would have to register her name on its pages. 'Bilkis' name would be repeated again & again as an example of Courage, Bravery. 

However, 

It started on 28th Feb,2002. 

21yrs old Bilkis with her 5-month pregnancy was scared when violence erupted in the state in the aftermath of the previous day’s incident at Godhra Train arson. 

Her village Radhikpur in the Dahod district witnessed arson and looting that had taken place on the occasion of Bakr-Id a few days previously, so It was not safe at all. 

So Bilkis, her 3yr old Daughter Saleha & 15 other members fled the village on 28th Feb. 

3rd March 2002, when the family reached Chapparwad vill they were attacked by about 20-30 armed men. 

The attackers descended on the truck and in next one hour or so the massacre went on.

Bilkis, her mother & 3 other women were raped, brutalised & left to die. Of the 17-member group only 3 survived the attack. 

Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai and Shailesh Bhatt were the 3 perpetrators who g∆ng-r∆ped Bilkis.

Sailesh Bhatt klLLD Bilkis 3yr old daughter Saleha by smashing her head on the ground. Bilkis was the only surviving woman in that.

Bilkis remained unconscious for at least 3 hrs after the attack. After she regained consciousness, she borrowed clothes from an Adivasi woman and met a Home Guard who took her to the Limkheda police station.  

She registered a complaint with Head Constable Somabhai Gori who, according to the CBI, “suppressed material facts & wrote a distorted & truncated version” of her complaint. 

Bilkis was taken to a public hospital for a medical examination only after she reached the Godhra relief camp.

In 2002-2003 the local police consistently rejected her case, citing insufficient evidence & even went so far as to threaten her with legal consequences if she persisted.  

Then Her case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission & in Dec 2003 she appealed in the SC which ordered CBI investigation.

The CBI concluded that the post mortem was carried out shoddily to protect the accused. CBI investigators exhumed the bodies of those killed in the attack & said that none of the 7 bodies had skulls.

According to the CBI, the heads of the corpses had been severed after the autopsy, so that the bodies could not be identified.

In the meantime, she kept receiving death threats, forced to change 20 homes in 2 years. In Aug 2004, the Apex court shifted the trial from Gujarat to Mumbai. 

In a Mumbai court, charges were filed against 19 men. This included 6 police officer & 1 Govt Doctor. 

On 21st Jan, 2008 CBI Sp. Court Judge, UD Salvi found 13 individuals guilty of various charges including rape, conspiracy, murder. 11 of them received life sentences.

Judge Salvi termed Bilkis’ “courageous deposition as the turning point in the case."

He also observed that the “bodies had been moved, without footwear, from the scene of the crime, indicating a conspiracy." 

It was cold-blooded.

During the Trial Bilkis identified the accused as they were known to her before having purchased Milk from her family for years. 

Almost 10 years after this Judgement in May 2017 the Bombay HC upheld the Judgement. 

The GUJ Govt offered 5 Lakh compensation to Bilkis which she refused. In 2019 the SC ordered the Guj Govt to pay her 50 Lakhs.

However, in Aug 2022 again her quest for justice began.  

Plz, Stay. I know it was tiring... Tomorrow we will see its end. 

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