By IANS
Mumbai : The verdict in the case related to gang rape of Bilkis Bano Yakub Rasool and the killing of her family members in a small town – one of the most horrific incidents of 2002 communal violence in Gujarat – is likely to be delivered by a Mumbai court soon.
According to defence counsel Rajendra Shirodkar, Additional Sessions Judge U.D. Salvi’s ruling could come as early as Friday or by Tuesday (Jan 22).
The tragedy in Randhikpur, a town 250 km from Ahmedabad, permanently changed the Bilkis Bano’s life.
Six months pregnant at the time, she survived the massacre, but not before being subjected to gang rape by a savage mob that had attacked the family when they were attempting to escape from their village.
While eight members of the family were killed, six others went missing and three – Bilkis Bano, husband Saddam and Hussain, a relative – survived.
Of the 20 accused in the case, 12 had allegedly attacked the Rasools and raped Bano. Her foetus was aborted following the brutal gang rape.
The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) special public prosecutor R.K. Shah argued that it was a planned attack and the conspiracy was hatched between Feb 28 and March 3, 2002.
Six police officers – Narpatsinh Ranchhodbhai, Idris Saiyed, Bhikhabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Somabhai Gori and B.S. Bhagoria – were charged with shielding the accused as they allegedly refused to take down Bilkis Bano’s statement.
Two doctors, Arunkumar Prasad and Sangeeta Prasad, who conducted the post-mortem tests, were also arrested on the charge of fudging reports.
The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis Bano expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and the evidence tampered with, the Supreme Court in a rare move transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.