give me back my right to live: Bilkis Bano after release of rape convicts

Two days after all the convicts serving a life sentence in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape case were released from jail, Bano urged the Gujarat government to “undo this harm” and give her back the “right to live without fear and in peace”.
The trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again,' these were the words of Bilkis Bano after the 11 convicts who gang-raped her and killed her children during the Godhra riots in 2002 were released under the Gujarat government's remission policy. She appealed to the state government to “undo this harm” and give her back the “right to live without fear and in peace”.

“Two days ago, on August 15, the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again. When I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life, and took from me my 3-year-old daughter, had walked free,” Bilkis Bano said in the statement.

She said the government's decision has left her numb.

“Today, I can only say this - how can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice. My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,” Bano added.

She said that no one enquired about her safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision. “I appeal to the Gujarat Government, please undo this harm. Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe," said Bano.
THE BILKIS BANO CASE
Bilkis was 20 years old and several months pregnant at the time she was subjected to brutality by men she had apparently known for years. She referred to one of them as ‘Chacha’ (uncle) and others as brothers. She was gang-raped and left almost lifeless. She saw her family members being killed. Her three-year-old daughter was also murdered by the mob on March 3, 2002.

On regaining consciousness, Bilkis borrowed clothes from a tribal woman and went to the Limkheda police station in Dahod district to register a complaint. The head constable there suppressed facts and wrote a truncated version of the complaint.
She received death threats, prompting the Supreme Court, in 2004, to move the trial out of Gujarat to Mumbai.

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. The head constable was convicted for “making incorrect records” to save the accused. Seven of the 20 accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence. One person died during the course of the trial