11 convicts serving life sentences in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case from the 2002 Gujarat riots were released on Monday after a state government panel approved their remission of sentence applications.
Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Raj Kumar said the remission application was in favor of Raman as he had served 14 years in jail, along with other factors such as Raman’s age, the nature of the crime committed, performance in jail, and so on.”.
The Bilkis Bano case
On the night of March 3, 2002, 19-year-old Bilkis Bano and her family were escaping a mob on a truck when a group of armed men attacked them. Bilkis was 5 months pregnant and accompanied by 17 other people, including her 2-year-old daughter, in the truck. The mob gang-raped her and also killed 14 members of her family , including her daughter, mother Halima, and cousin Shamim in the attack. The incident took place in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district.
Bilkis decided to register a case against his assailants at the local police station. But the police dismissed Bilkis bano case victim and threatened her with dire consequences if she went ahead. In response, she filed a petition with the Supreme Court and approached the National Human Rights Commission of India.
The Mumbai court filed charges against 19 men, including six police officers and a doctor. Among them, 11 received life sentences for murder and gang rape in January 2008. The Bombay High Court sustained the conviction in May 2017.
Convict Charges and Compensation
Bilkis Bano received Rs 50 lakh in compensation from the Supreme Court in 2019 – the first order in a case related to the 2002 riots. “It is very apparent that what should not have happened has happened and the state has to give compensation,” said Ranjan Gogoi, at the time the Chief Justice of India, along with Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
Names of the 11 convicts
The 11 convicts are – Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Kesarbhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.
A CBI court verdict from 2008 determined that Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, and Naresh Kumar Mordhiya (who died later) raped Bilkis, while Shailesh Bhatt killed Saleha by slamming her to death. A jury convicted the other accused of both rape and murder, since being part of “an unlawful assembly” distributes the crime’s liability.
11 convicts set free after almost 15 years
According to Raj Kuma, a life sentence by Indian Law implies 14 years in prison at least, after which a convict can apply for remission. He also added that that the government makes a premature release decision based on eligibility and recommendation from the prison advisory committee and the district legal authorities.
The Panchmahal District Collector Sujal Mayatra said that one of the convicts, Radheshyam Shah applied for remission to the Supreme Court. In May Supreme court Gujarat Court was asked to look into the Shah’s application.
“A committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favor of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case,” Mayatra stated. “The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their release.”
“It should have considered against the remission rather than allowing it.”
According to Lawyer Shamshad Pathan, who represented the victims of the riots, several convicts who have committed less heinous crimes than those facing the gang rape case charges continue to serve in jails without any remission.
“When a government takes such a decision the hope of the victim in the system diminishes,” Pathan added. “Even when the Supreme Court directed the Gujarat government to consider their remission, it should have considered against the remission rather than allowing it.”
Bano’s husband, Yakub Rasul also told the PTI that he had no prior knowledge of these releases and that he found out about them from the media.
