Will stand and fight again

 Bilkis Bano on decision to move Supreme Court over release of rapists

Bilkis Bano has moved the Supreme Court over the premature release of 11 convicts in the 2022 gangrape case. She spoke about her continued pursuit for justice and said she will “stand and fight again”.

By LAKSHY DREAM FOUNDATION GLOBAL NEWS Web Desk: Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and several months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots. She saw her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, being killed. And in August this year, the 11 men who subjected her to the brutality were released by the Gujarat government under its remission policy.

But Bilkis Bano has decided to once again fight for justice and has moved the Supreme Court against the premature release of 11 convicts- Radheshyam Shah, Jaswant Chaturbhai Nai, Keshubhai Vadaniya, Bakabhai Vadaniya, Rajibhai Soni, Rameshbhai Chauhan, Shaileshbhai Bhatt, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Govindbhai Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradip Modhiya.

Talking about her decision to move the Supreme Court challenging the early release of 11 convicts, Bilkis Bano said, "I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right.”

She said that the Gujarat government’s decision to grant early release to 11 convicts on August 15 this year has "shaken the conscience of society".

For Bilkis Bano, the pursuit of justice was not easy in the first instance. She received death threats, prompting the Supreme Court, in 2004, to move the trial out of Gujarat to Mumbai. Bilkis Bano persevered in her fight and in January 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai convicted 11 of the 20 accused on charges of conspiracy to rape a pregnant woman, murder, unlawful assembly, and other charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

But this August 15, the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, all 11 convicts in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.

"The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time, after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb. I was paralysed with shock and with fear for my children, my daughters, and above all, paralysed by loss of hope,” Bilkis Bano was quoted as saying by PTI.

Bilkis Bano said that people speaking up for her from different parts of the country gave her courage to fight for justice again. “But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair; and made me feel less alone in my pain. I cannot express in words what this support has meant to me,” Bilkis Bano said.

"So, I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right. I do this today for myself, for my children, and for women everywhere", she said.