'Give back my right to live without fear...' Bilkis Bano on convicts' release
Bilkis Bano said before taking "such a big and unjust decision", nobody enquired about her safety and well-being. In a statement, she said that her sorrow and wavering faith are not just for herself but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts.
FollowThe premature release of all 11 convicts serving a life sentence in a case related to Bilkis Bano and seven family members has shaken the 2002 post-Godhra riot survivor's faith in justice and left her numb. In a statement released by her lawyer Sobha, Bilkis appealed to the Gujarat government to give back her right to "live without fear and in peace" and "undo this harm".
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On Monday, the 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape and murder of seven family members of Bilkis Bano during the 2002 riots walked out of the Godhra sub-jail under the remission policy of the BJP government.
Criticising the move, Bilkis said before taking "such a big and unjust decision", nobody enquired about her safety and well-being. When her family was killed, and she was gang-raped, Bilkis was five months pregnant. She was then residing at Randhikpur village in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district.
'On August 15, 2022, the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again when I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life and took from me my three-year-old daughter had walked free,' she said in a statement, adding, 'I was bereft of words. I am still numb.'
How can justice for any woman end like this, she asked, adding, 'I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system and slowly learned to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice.'
'My sorrow and my wavering faith are not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts,' she said.
Asking the state government to ensure her safety and that of her family, she asked Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai Patel to give back her right to live without fear.
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The 11 convicts were sentenced to life on January 21, 2008, by a special CBI court in Mumbai. The Bombay High Court later upheld their conviction. These convicts served over 15 years in prison, following which one of them moved the Supreme Court seeking premature release under the 1992 remission policy. The top court then directed the Gujarat government to examine the remission. The government formed a committee and issued an order allowing the premature release of all convicts from jail.Â
With Agency Inputs
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