Bilkis Bano on Tuesday told a special court she could not recollect the events surrounding her alleged gang rape and murder of her relatives in the aftermath of the Godhra train carnage in Gujarat.

Defence lawyers grilled Bilkis for the second day this week. Lawyer S K Jain said that to most of his questions, Bilkis' reply was, 'I don't recollect'.

During cross-examination Bilkis said she did not know social activist Farah Naqvi. However, when it was pointed out that Naqvi was present at the press conference in Ahmedabad to announce the start of the re-trial in Maharashtra, Bilkis said she did not remember her (Naqvi's) name and did not know her personally then, Jain said.

According to Jain, Bilkis said Mukhtar, a social activist from Kalol in Gujarat, had made arrangements for the press conference.

He said, "Even when I asked her about her Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court seeking trial in the case outside Gujarat, she said she was unaware about the documents attached with it." He alleged that Bilkis had approached the SC at the behest of Muslim leaders in Gujarat.

Earlier, Bilkis had identified 12 accused in the trial court. Twenty people have been cited as accused. Of these, 12 are charged with rape and murder. Eight others -- a doctor-couple who performed the post mortem of the victims and six police officers -- have been charged with shielding the guilty.

Earlier reports:

Bilkis appears before court for in-camera deposition

Bilkis Bano identifies 12 accused

Bilkis to appear in court on Mar 9