Ahmedabad:
Bilkis Bano’s husband said he was surprised on Tuesday after hearing from the media about the release of all 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for her gang rape and murder of seven members of her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Bilkis Bano’s husband Yakub Rasul told PTI he does not plan to comment on the latest development in the case on Monday.
Mr Rasul said he, his wife and five sons, the oldest now 20, still live without a permanent address, more than 20 years after the incident.
The 11 convicts walked out of Godhra sub-prison on Monday after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.
On January 21, 2008, a special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Mumbai sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on charges of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family. Their conviction was later confirmed by the Bombay High Court.
Mr Rasul said he learned about their release through the media.
“We did not know when they (convicts) were considering their application and what judgment the state government was considering. We never received any kind of notification and were not informed about this. There was no way we could have known this in advance,” he said. .
Asked about his reaction to the government’s decision, Mr Rasul said he does not know what to say.
“We don’t intend to say anything about this. I can’t talk until I get the details. All we want to do is pray for the peace of the souls of our near and dear ones we lost in the riots. Every day we commemorate those who died in the incident, including our daughter,” he said.
Rasul said the government of Gujarat has paid the family compensation of Rs 50 lakh as directed by the Supreme Court.
“But the government has not yet made any arrangements for a job or home as directed by the Supreme Court,” he said.
The family still lives in hiding with no permanent address, he says.
“We don’t have a permanent address yet, we can’t talk about where we live yet, it’s quite difficult for us to do that,” he said.
The compensation money, he said, was used for the education of his sons.
The 11 convicts who were granted parole are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radheshyam Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.
Radheshyam Shah, the convict whose early release plea paved the way for all 11 lifelong convicts to walk out of jail, said he is happy to be released.
“The government of Gujarat has released us in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court. I am happy to be out because I will be able to meet my relatives and start a new life,” he said.
“We were convicted and put in jail. When I was not released after 14 years in prison, I approached the Supreme Court for pardon. The Supreme Court ordered the government of Gujarat to make a decision, after which we were released,” he said. .
The convicts were released Monday under the Gujarat government’s remission policy after serving more than 15 years in prison.
On March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano’s family was attacked by a mob in Randhikpur village in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district during the post-Godhra riots. Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped and seven members of her family were murdered.
In April 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the government of Gujarat to provide Bilkis with Rs 50 lakh compensation, a job and housing.
The 11 convicts who left the prison were convicted of gang rape of a pregnant woman, murder and unlawful assembly under sections of the Indian Penal Code.
While convicting them, the special court had acquitted seven accused for lack of evidence.
One of the suspects had died during the trial.
The Bombay Supreme Court had confirmed their conviction on May 3, 2017. It also convicted seven others, including five police officers and two doctors, under IPC Sections 218 (failure to perform their duties) and 201 (tampering with evidence).
Riots had broken out in Gujarat after the burning of a Sabarmati Express bus that killed 59 ‘karsevaks’ on February 27, 2002.
The violence had claimed the lives of 1,044 people, mostly Muslims, in various parts of the state.
The central government had informed the Rajya Sabha in May 2005 that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims had been killed in the post-Godhra riots.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)