Undo this harm, Bilkis Bano appeals to Gujarat Govt

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 17

Bilkis Bano, a survivor of the 2002 post-Godhra riots, today appealed to the Gujarat Government to undo the harm done to her by the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping her and murdering 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter.

In an appeal to the state government, Bano said: “Please undo this harm. Give back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are safe.”

Bano said no one enquired about her safety before taking such a big and unjust decision of pardoning the convicts, who had been sentenced for life for their heinous crimes.

“I trusted the highest courts of our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken away from me my peace and shaken my faith in the justice. My sorrow and wavering faith is not for myself alone, but for every woman who is struggling for justice,” she said. — TNS

‘Under which policy rapists pardoned?’

The Congress has asked the BJP as to which policy the Gujarat government invoked to remit the sentences in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. Citing government’s claim the pardon was granted under a 1992 policy, Congress’ Pawan Khera asked from where the policy could be accessed.

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