August 20, 2004 14:43 IST
Claiming that their husbands were innocent, wives of 12 accused in the Bilkis Bano gangrape-cum-massacre case on Friday sent a memorandum to President A P J Abdul Kalam requesting a fresh judicial inquiry into the incident.
The women, who said they had no faith in the Central Bureau of Investigation, reached Gujarat's Dahod district headquarters after walking 55km from Randhikpur and presented the memorandum to Collector R R Solanki.
The Supreme Court had on August 12 transferred the trial in this case to Maharashtra on Bilkis' apprehension that witnesses would be harmed in Gujarat.
"A handful of elements are instigating Bilkis to lodge complaints and even the CBI has actively connived with such elements in arresting our husbands, who are totally innocent and never ever indulged in offences mentioned in charge sheet," the women said.
"We are thoroughly dissatisfied with CBI probe into the so-called incident, as all arrests have been made by relying on Bilkis Bano, who frequently changed her statements," they said.
The women also said that they were in no position to hire a lawyer to fight the case and requested the President that their husbands be lodged in custody in Gujarat itself instead of Maharashtra.
