In the events that started after the killing of 60 Hindu pilgrims in India in 2002, a woman named ‘Bilkis Bano’ engaged in a gang rape and escaped the massacre by pretending to be dead. In the new development, 11 convicts were released after the state government approved their applications for sentence reduction. It was noted that the criticized release decision would encourage similar events to occur.
14 YEARS IMPRISONED FOR LIFE
According to the news in Aljazeera, 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano case were released from prison in the Gujarat town of Godhra after the state government approved their applications for a reduced sentence.
An official, who made a statement to The Indian Express newspaper, reported that the release application made by 11 convicts was evaluated due to the “complete 14 years” in prison.
Life sentences in India are usually limited to 14 years in prison.
Mehmood Pracha, a lawyer in the capital New Delhi, told Aljazeera that the released convicts were close to the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).
‘LIKE EVENTS CAN CAUSE TO OCCUR’
In the statement made by the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), it was noted that the release decision, which was criticized, would encourage similar events to occur.
The decision to release 11 prisoners coincided with the 75th anniversary of India’s independence from British rule, the statement said.
EVENT HISTORY
In the state of Gujarat, India, on February 27, 2002, in the train fire near the Godhra station, events started in the state after 60 Hindu pilgrims were killed.
Hindu gangs, holding Muslims responsible for the fire, attacked Muslim neighborhoods and villages in Gujarat, killing nearly a thousand people and raping hundreds of women.
The current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was serving as the prime minister of the state of Gujarat at the time of the uprising. Modi was accused of not doing enough to stop the killings of Muslims.
BILKIS BANO CASE
In the wave of anti-Muslim violence, a Muslim woman named Bilkis Bano, who lived in the province’s Limkheda region, was gang raped and 14 of her family members were killed with her 3-year-old daughter Saleha. Bano, who was 21 years old and 5 months pregnant at the time, survived the massacre by pretending to be dead, but later lost consciousness.
In the court decision, it was stated that Saleha was killed by hitting her head on the ground.
Bano said that the 11 people convicted in court were from his neighborhood.
In 2008, the court sentenced 11 of the 13 defendants it found guilty to life imprisonment on charges of gang rape and murder.
After 17 years of legal battle, the Supreme Court ordered Bano to be awarded $63 thousand in damages in 2019.
Source: AA