40 minutes agoAuthor: Sandhya Dwivedi
On the morning of February 28, 2002, a settlement in Randhikpur village of Dahod was empty. Old people, children, women and men, all in a state of disillusionment and fear, were running through the fields and forests carrying only the goods for work. There was a crowd behind. He held axes, sickles and swords in his hands.
For about 96 hours, 5 months pregnant Bilquis Bano, 9 months pregnant Shamim, 7 years old Saddam and his mother Amina kept running in the fields and forests.
On 3 March 2002, this mob finally surrounded him in the forest of Pathalpani. Six women including Bilkis were gang-raped. Shamim’s one-day-old daughter and Bilkis’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter were also among the 13 killed.
At present, 11 convicts have been released in this case. Hearing is going on in the Supreme Court against this decision of the Gujarat government. Bhaskar went to every place where Bilkis stayed from 28 February to 3 March, Read the story of those 96 hours…
Neighbors became rioters, what would they do if they did not run away?
On February 27, 2002, two coaches of the Sabarmati Express coming from Ayodhya to Gujarat were set on fire. 59 pilgrims were killed in this. Communal violence broke out in many places in Gujarat. Randhikpur village of Dahod, about 50 km from Godhra, also came under its grip.
Bilkis had come here from her in-laws’ house, Deoghar Baria, to celebrate Eid with her family. Yakub, who lives in the township, says that our father and grandfather are from here. All our property is here. All of them (rioters) are our neighbours. Don’t know what happened to all of them that day?
It was the evening of February 27, 2002. A mob entered the settlement. Even after explaining to us, they did not understand. We understood that if we stay here, we will not survive.
Due to the riots, the entire settlement including Bilkis had to flee the village. People took out children and essential items in search of a safe place. Among them, Bilkis’s group was attacked by rioters. Illustration: Gautam Chakraborty
The settlement started emptying from the evening itself, which left where it was. A group of about 120 people was with me. Bilkis’s husband was also with me. We were lucky that after wandering for 3 days, we got protection and we reached the Godhra Relief Camp safely.
Bilquis and 15 people with him parted ways. They had left through the forest for the shortcut to reach Deoghar Baria. The mob surrounded him in this forest.
Bilkis’s husband Yakub Rasool says, “We were assured by the protection team that they would find the rest of the people and send them to the camp soon, but I found Bilkis after 15 days. She was completely broken. I knew what happened to him.
I didn’t want to disappoint him any more by mentioning those things. Yakub Rasool stopped and then said- My daughter Shehla was not with him. Of those 15 people, only two were left. Saddam and Bilkis, a 7 year old.
first stop: Bilkis stayed for 4-5 hours at Kuanjar, about 6 kms from Randhikpur.
Suleiman’s remorse and the sorrow of old eyes
5 months pregnant Bilkis Bano reached a village while crossing a flat, mountain, river holding the hand of her two and a half year old daughter. The name of the village was Kuanjar. Suleman was the Sarpanch of the village at that time. Suleman’s servant Shankar became a witness in the court in this case.
Suleman still regrets remembering that day i.e. February 28. This sorrow is seen again and again in his old eyes. The sadness of not being able to stop Bilkis, the sadness of not being able to save someone from death.
Suleman says in a trembling voice, the atmosphere was starting to deteriorate. There are more Hindus and less Muslims in my village. The police probably felt that the atmosphere might get worse, so they took me away from the village. Shankar was my servant at home. He conveyed the news to me that some people from Randhikpur village have come to our house.
Bilkis and the people present with him had reached the house of Suleman, who was the sarpanch of Kuanjar. Suleman was not home that day, but he had asked the servant to make arrangements for everyone’s stay and food.
The group consisted mostly of women and children. Bilkis was 5 months pregnant, but Shamim was 9 months pregnant. Shankar explained to them to stop here. It is not good for them to walk much in this condition.
Those people were afraid that the crowd might come here chasing them. After staying for 4-5 hours, they left. Shamim was pregnant for a full month. Shankar also sent a midwife with him, delivery could have happened at any hour.
Suleiman says, ‘If I had been there on that day, perhaps this accident would not have happened. Bilkis would have survived. Even that one-day-old girl would have survived. Everyone would have survived.
The people of the village tell that now a road leads from Randhikpur to Kuanjar village. At that time it was a paved road. Bilkis was afraid that if he went by the road, the attackers might find him. So she set out through the forest. Bilkis was secretly trying to reach her in-laws’ house.
Second stop: Pathanpur, where Bilkis stayed for two days, Shamim had a baby girl
Life, Violence, Death: The Shared Grief of Suleiman and Abesi Khat
Bilkis and his family reached Pathanpur village after walking one and a half kilometer on foot from Kuanjar. Pathanpur is a tribal village. The road in this village, situated in the middle of the forest, is a bit bumpy. We tried a lot, but could not find anyone who spoke Hindi. Here Gujarati is spoken along with the tribal language.
We reached the house of the then Sarpanch Abesi Khat. He says, ‘Not 14, but about 100 people came here. Pointing to a well, he says, everyone drank water from here. We fed them something. Many people left, but 14 people stayed here. We made them stay in a house nearby. A woman was about to have a child, her pain was increasing.
Within a few hours the woman gave birth to a baby girl. We gave them everything they needed.
Shamim gave birth to a baby girl in a house in Pathanpur village. Despite not being able to walk, she left with the team. Illustration: Gautam Chakraborty
On the third day morning i.e. on March 3, 2002, they left from here. We stopped them a lot. Bilkis was from any pregnancy. A day before the baby girl was born, which was not even two full days old and other small children were with them.
We did not want them to leave here, but they wanted to reach Deoghar Baria. We told some people of the village, leave them till the dam. There is a dam about one kilometer away from the village. By the time he was released there, everyone was safe.
Abesi Khat, who was the sarpanch of Pathanpur village, had asked the people present with Bilkis not to go further. ‘Maybe if I had insisted, they would have stopped’, he says.
Abesi also took us to the house where the child was born. This house belonged to a hero. He is so shocked by that incident that he was staggering in speaking. He refused to appear in front of the camera. He said, ‘We are afraid that if we say something, something will happen to us.’
However, Abesi Khat later told us while walking – I am not afraid. Take testimony wherever you want. I will not lie. His eyes were fearless. The sorrow of Suleiman’s old eyes is clearly visible on Abesi’s face as well.
Third stop: Kesarbagh forest Pathalpani, 6 women including Bilkis gangraped, 13 people killed
A one-day-old girl was thrashed to death in front of her mother.
Now I was about to reach a point where it is hard to believe the brutality that has happened. I am a journalist, but before that a woman. Whatever was heard and read about this cruelty was now in front of everyone. A mother, who was yet to recover from labor pains, who had given birth to a baby girl a day earlier. He was gangraped. The girl’s life was taken by being slammed on a stone in front of her.
The rioters surrounded Bilkis and his companions in the Pathalpani forest. They killed Shamim’s one-day-old baby girl. Illustration: Gautam Chakraborty
5 months pregnant Bilkis’s two and a half year old girl was freed from her hand and thrown into a ditch. She was gang-raped and even the child in her stomach could not survive. He lost two children in one day. Bilkis’s mother Halima and her two sisters were also gang-raped. Their 6-7 year old son Saddam was rescued from Amina’s hand and thrown into the ditch, then a stone was placed on him.
In this forest of Pathalpani, 6 women were gang-raped. These include Bilkis, his mother, two sisters, Shamim and Amina. Bilkis had a sister who was only 13 years old.
I was standing in that forest of Kesarbagh, Pathalpani. There was no one to testify here. I went closer to the river near which this cruelty took place, also passed those stones where children were killed by slamming them. For a long time I wondered what the pleasure of violence and cruelty would be like, what would be the music of swords fired on women and children.
Families that perished, children who could not grow up
He had two sisters among the 14 people who went out with Bilkis. One is a little older than him and one is 13 years old. His mother Halima and father of 45 years were also there. Her cousin was Shamim, who was 9 months pregnant and she gave birth to a baby girl in Pathanpur.
Saddam’s mother Amina was also Bilkis’ sister. It was a family story, which ended. The story of children who never grew up. One could not even be born.
In Randhikpur village, there are few people left in the settlement of 75 houses. The rest left the village after the release of the convicts of the Bilkis case.
After the release of 11 people convicted in the Bilkis case, once again this township of Randhikpur has become as deserted as in 2002. Earlier on 28 February 2002 this settlement was deserted and today after 20 years again this settlement is deserted. Fear has spread.
The story of Bilkis became the strongest evidence in the Supreme Court
Advocate Shobha Gupta, who fought the case of Bilkis, says – It was the story of Bilkis that became the biggest evidence for the Supreme Court. The Gujarat Police had filed a closure report calling this story doubtful.
It was only Bilkis’s story, which he had lodged with the District Collector, NHRC, several NGOs and most importantly the camp where he was taken after this incident. We made all these the basis, our facts were so strong that there was no problem in getting the case reopened.
CBI investigation was ordered in the year 2003. The CBI also did a great job and reached the place where the dead bodies were hidden. The charge sheet was so strong that 6 policemen and 2 doctors were also found guilty. It is very rare that even the police and the doctor are considered criminals.
Input: Raju Solanki
Also read this story related to Bilkis Bano case…
When she regained consciousness, her mother was dead, there was not a single cloth on her body.
‘When I regained consciousness, Ammi had sword wounds on her chest. There was not a single cloth on his body. I shouted loudly, Ammi, wake up Ammi, but she did not get up. She was dead’, says Saddam Sheikh in a trembling voice.
Saddam was in Bilkis’s group that day. His mother Amina seemed to be Bilkis’ sister in the relationship. Saddam is now 27 years old, but while telling the scene of that day, only a 6-7 year old child is seen frightened, in front of which his mother’s body is lying. Read full news…
(Read in the next episode of this series, why the township of Randhikpur became empty once again. How the families of the culprits see this whole case and how difficult was Bilkis’s fight for justice.)