Convicts released before I recovered from trauma: Bilkis Bano in Supreme Court

Bilkis Bano on Monday told the Supreme Court that all the 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang raping her were released in early remission but she has not recovered from the trauma. The Supreme Court was hearing the plea challenging the remission granted last year to the convicts by the Gujarat government.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bilkis Bano, told the bench headed by Justice BV Nagarathna, "She is scared to face men, cannot be in crowds or around strangers and has not recovered from the trauma. We thought this was over, but then the remission happened."

"It was not a spur of the moment incident. The convicts were chasing Bilkis with a blood thirsty approach to hunt Muslims and kill them," Gupta added. The lawyer told the court that Bilkis came to know about the premature release of the convicts when she saw the celebrations outside the jail as they came out.

Shobha Gupta added that the early release was opposed by the trial judge who convicted them. "He gave a detailed opinion saying they are not entitled to any leniency or remission. Even the investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, said no, not entitled," she added.

Gupta argued that the convicts were released based on the 1992 remission policy of the Gujarat government and not the revised policy of 2014. The state government’s revised policy of 2014, which bars out-of-turn release of prisoners convicted for rape and murder, would have made the convicts ineligible for remission.

WHAT IS THE CASE?

Bilkis Bano was 20-years-old and several months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the communal riots that broke out after the 2002 Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.

In 2008, a sessions court in Mumbai convicted 11 people for gangrape and murder and sentenced them to life imprisonment. After having served more than 15 years in jail, one of the convicts approached the Supreme Court with a plea for his premature release.

The top court had directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence, following which the government formed a committee which decided in favour of remission of the convicts.