Meerut, Dec. 23 -- After nine years of trauma and hardships caused by an incident that shattered her childhood, the survivor of a gang rape incident-who was then 14 years old-has now transformed her pain into purpose. "I want to become a judge so that I can deliver justice to girls and women who have suffered," she said on a day when a POCSO court in Bulandshahr announced the sentencing of five men convicted of gang raping the now 23-year-old and her mother after a highway ambush in July 2016. The convicts, who assaulted the mother and daughter in front of their family members, were awarded life imprisonment. While the family said the verdict restored some hope in them after a nearly decade-long wait, they expressed profound dissatisfaction, lamenting the absence of the death penalty for what they described as an "inhuman and barbaric" act. "Nine years ago, on that night, what we endured was inhuman and barbaric. Back then, I was a child. Even today, I clearly remember the faces of those monsters who were tearing apart my body and my mother's. They didn't just violate us, but they destroyed our entire lives," the survivor, who is now studying law, recounted. On July 29, 2016, six of a family from Noida were ambushed by armed robbers on National Highway-91 when the former were en route to attend a relative's post-death rituals in Shahjahanpur. Near Bulandshahr's Dostpur flyover, the assailants blocked their car, held them at gunpoint, and dragged the woman and her daughter into the bushes while leaving the male members of the family tied up. After their ordeal, the family relocated to different homes and cities five times to escape stigma and harassment. "After neighbors learnt about our past.people would stare, pass lewd comments, start eve-teasing, and loiter around our home," the survivor said. "But we didn't break. I didn't break. How long could we keep hiding our identity?" Her father, who once owned three taxis, now works as a driver at night, earning Rs.12,000-15,000 monthly. "This incident took everything from me," he said, his voice trembling. "We had to fabricate a false past... Now my entire life revolves around my daughter's future." The mother recalled their life before the incident: "We had never been to a police station or even seen a court. After that day, our lives changed forever. My daughter, who was just a child then, saw and endured everything." "I remember every face. They are not humans. They are demons. Even today, bad dreams haunt me. Nights are the most terrifying. I still wake up from sleep in panic," the 23-year-old said. Undeterred by disruptions caused by frequent relocations, she is determined to complete her education. "Justice has been served, yet peace is still far away. We will keep fighting so that no other girl goes through this," she vowed. "The trauma never fully goes away, but this verdict restores some hope," the father said....