Bilkis Bano
'I saw my first child smashed on a rock to death by convicts:' Bilikis Bano tells SC
New Delhi/IBNS/UNI: Gang-rape survivor Bilkis Bano Monday told the Supreme Court that she saw her first child being smashed on a rock to death, and she kept pleading to the perpetrators of the brutal crimes for forgiveness, but they didn't listen to it.
"I see my first child being smashed on a rock. I kept on pleading that I am like a sister to them (convicts)," she told the apex court.
"She knew all these people," Bilkis Bano's lawyer told the court's two-judge bench, headed by Justice B V Nagarathna and also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan.
Gupta, narrating Bilkis Bano's ordea, said that to an extent she is scared to face those men, and cannot be in crowds or around strangers.
"She has not recovered from the trauma. We thought this was over, but then the remission happens," Gupta told the apex court.
While dealing with the issue of compensation, a three-judge bench of this top court noted that this was a case that shocked the conscience of the public and was uncommon.
This comes as the case was reopened and an investigation was carried out by the CBI.
"The investigation was not only unsatisfactory but it smacked of dishonest steps to screen the culprits. This itself is the most incriminating circumstance against the accused. The earlier investigation has played the role of villain in this case. That the investigation was tainted," her lawyer told the SC.
"It was not a pre-meditated murder or rape and it is not an offence against public morality. This is not a fit case to enhance the sentence," she said.
"The prosecution case is that it is not only one or two murders but it is a case of mass murders where the women were ravished and raped and it has shocked the social conscience," Gupta said.
Her submission was inconclusive on Monday and would continue tomorrow before the same bench in the court.
The Gujarat government awarded remission to all her 11 convicts and freed them on Aug 15, last year.
Bano has filed a writ petition in the top court challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts
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