India’s SC agrees to hear plea against remission of gangrape convicts

Gulf Today Report

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday agreed to examine a plea challenging last week’s release of 11 men who were convicted for the rape and murder of pregnant Bilkis Bano during Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Last Monday, authorities released the 11 convicts, sentenced to life imprisonment, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy and their behaviour while jailed.

The 11 men had completed more than 15 years in prison. However, opposition contend that their discharge contradicts the government's stated policy of uplifting women in a country with many, well-documented examples of violence against them.

Activists hold placards during a protest against the release of men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano in Bangalore. AFP

The apex court verbally agreed on Tuesday to hear a public interest litigation petition to reverse the state's remission order releasing the convicts, Kapil Sibal, an attorney representing a group of women seeking the reversal, told Reuters.

During the riots, the 11 men, all Hindu, gangraped Bilkis Bano and her three-year-old daughter was among those 14 killed by a mob.

Activists hold placards during a protest against the release of men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano in Bangalore. AFP

The rape victim's husband, Yakoob Rasool, earlier said the courts and the government did not tell them the convicted men would be freed and that it had shaken his faith in justice system in the country.