The twelfth convict in the case, Somabhai Gori, a policeman who was found guilty of shielding the accused, has been sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The in-camera trial was shifted out of Gujarat on the orders of the Supreme Court after reports of threats and intimidation of witnesses. The CBI probe involved exhumation of bodies whose heads were severed after post-mortem to evade identification.

Holding that the case does not fall under the “rarest of rare cases”, special CBI judge U D Salvi rejected special public prosecutor R K Shah’s plea for death sentences to three persons held guilty of raping Bilkis.

Salvi also observed that in a case of communal riots, “every individual has a separate agenda... Many join for looting property, some join to satisfy their lust and some join for the killing.”

Immediately after the verdict, Bilkis Bano asked the Gujarat government to reassure her family of security. “My family and I are still living in fear. It is the duty of the Gujarat government to assure us of safety,” she told reporters in New Delhi.

Although she felt that justice had been delivered in the case, she said the seven persons acquitted should have also been punished. Doctors and policemen who connived with the rioters should not have walked free, she said. “This judgment does not mean the end of hatred but it does mean that somewhere, somehow justice can prevail. I am ready to work closely with CBI in other cases too,” she said.

Responding to a query, Bilkis said the frequent flip-flop of Zaheera Sheikh in the Best Bakery case had “hurt the fight of innocent victims of Gujarat riots and brought a bad name to the community.”

In the Bilkis case, 12 persons, including the policeman, were convicted by the court on January 18. Seven were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence, while one died during the course of trial.

The court held that Jaswantbai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Naresh Kumar Mordhiya (deceased) raped Bilkis while Shailesh Bhatt killed her daughter, Saleha, by “smashing” her on the ground.

The others sentenced to life in jail are Radheshyam Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Vohania, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Nitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana. Somabhai Gori, head constable of Limkheda police station, got three years in prison.

Despite being mere bystanders to the crime (excluding Gori), these accused were convicted for rape and murder, as being part of “an unlawful assembly” distributes the liability of the crime, the court said.

On February 28, 2002, after violence erupted following the Sabarmati Express fire in Godhra, Bilkis, who was five months pregnant and a resident of Radhikpur in Dahod district, Gujarat, fled her village with her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Saleha, and 15 other family members. They decided to escape after the accused wreaked havoc in her home town on Bakr-Id day, setting fire to houses and looting belongings of Muslims.

On March 3, 2002, the family reached Chapparwad village and took shelter in a field connected to a dirt-track going towards Pannivella village. According to the chargesheet, about 20-30 people, including the 12 accused, armed with sickles, swords and sticks attacked Bilkis and her family.

Bilkis and four women, including her mother, were raped and brutally assaulted. Of the 17-member group of Muslims from Radhikpur village, eight were found dead, six are missing. Only Bilkis, Saddam and three-year-old Hussain survived the attack.