New Delhi: The Supreme Court has nullified the diminution granted to 11 Hindu men previously sentenced to life imprisonment over the gang rape of a Muslim woman Bilkis Bano and the murder of her relatives during the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002.
On Monday, the highest court of the country ordered the 11 men to turn themselves in to the prison authorities in Gujarat within a two-week period.
Their plea for protection of their liberty is rejected,” the court said.
“To keep them out would not be in consonance of the rule of law.”
Bilkis Bano, currently in her 40s, was gang raped when she was five months pregnant during the widespread violence in Gujarat resulting in nearly 2,000 people, predominantly Muslims, being killed.
Seven of the 14 people murdered in one incident were Bano’s relatives, including her three-year-old daughter, whose head was smashed on the ground by the perpetrators in Gujarat’s Dahod district.
The 11 men, convicted in early 2008, were ordered freed by the Gujarat government in August 2022 after the prison they were being held in recommended their release, considering the time they had served and their good behaviour.
A viral video at that time showed the relatives and supporters of the men welcoming them with sweets and garlands. But their release also drew widespread condemnation, especially since it coincided with Independence Day celebrations, when PM Modi spoke about women’s safety and security.