New Delhi:
Bilkis Bano, the survivor of one of the most horrific crimes during the 2002 Gujarat riots, said today is “truly the New Year” for her as the 11 men responsible for killing her family and raping her wife would soon be behind bars again. Today the Supreme Court ruled that convicts released last year for “good behavior” must return to prison.
The convicts must surrender within two weeks, the top court said, saying the Gujarat government's exercise of power was done “without the use of any thought”. The state does not have the authority to release the men as only the state where the trial took place – in this case Maharashtra – has the authority to do so, the judges emphasized.
“I cried tears of relief. I smiled for the first time in over a year and a half. I hugged my children. “It feels like a rock the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest and I can breathe again,” Nilkis Bano said in a statement issued through her lawyer Shobha Gupta.
“This is what justice feels like. I thank the honorable Supreme Court of India for giving me, my children and women everywhere, this vindication and hope in the promise of equal justice for all,” she said.
“A year and a half ago, on August 15, 2022, when those who had destroyed my family and terrorized my existence were released early, I simply broke down,” she said. To those who stood by her during this time, “my thanks for your valuable solidarity and strength,” she said. “You gave me the will to fight, to save the idea of justice not just for me but for every woman in India. Thank you,” said Bilkis Bano.
“It was as if a decision was made first and the procedure was applied later, and if I may say so, carelessly,” noted Shobha Gupta, who has been Bilkis Bano's legal advisor for decades. She also questioned the men's “good behavior” cited for their release. “What did the good behavior reflect? Nothing was reflected,” she said.
The men were released by the Gujarat government on Independence Day last year under an outdated law, sparking a wave of outrage across the country. Bilkis Bano said she had not been informed of the release and expressed concern about the huge risk it posed to her safety.
Once outside, the men were greeted like a hero with sweets and garlands. Some of them were later seen sharing the stage with a BJP MP and an MLA.
The convict who filed the first bail application, Radheshaym Shah, had even started working as a lawyer, the top court was told during the hearing.