New Delhi CNN –
India's top court on Monday overturned a state government's decision to release 11 men convicted of gang-raping a pregnant Muslim woman during Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 and ordered them returned to prison.
The men were part of a Hindu mob that was sentenced to life in prison for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano, then 21 and pregnant. The same mob killed 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter.
They were released in August 2022 after serving 14 years of their sentence following a decision by an advisory panel set up by the Gujarat state government and led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
But on Monday, India's Supreme Court overturned that decision and ordered the men to report to prison authorities within two weeks.
The court ruled that the Gujarat government “lacked the competency” to issue the decrees as the trial and verdict took place in the state of Maharashtra. The court condemned the Gujarat government for misusing its discretionary powers in releasing the 11 convicts without permission.
The move was celebrated by Bano supporters, who had called the men's release an attack not only on Muslims but also on women's rights in a country where government data shows a woman is raped every 17 minutes.
“This ruling restored the rule of law. Congratulations to Bilkis and to all of us who stood by her and fought for her,” said Shobha Gupta, Bano’s lawyer, on Monday after the verdict was announced.
Aparna Bhat, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs in the case, also praised the verdict. “We truly appreciate the judges who interpreted the entire provision of the law and categorically ordered the accused to surrender,” Bhat said. “This was an extraordinary case and a phenomenal ruling by the Supreme Court.”
The crimes committed against Bano occurred in February 2002, when centuries-old divisions between the Hindu majority and the Muslim minority erupted in Gujarat.
It was one of the worst religious riots in India, killing more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.
An investigation found that Modi – the then chief minister of Gujarat – was not responsible for the riots.
Bano later told the court that the men ran towards them with swords, sticks and sickles. According to court documents, one grabbed her young daughter and slammed her to the ground. Three men raped her while the others attacked her sisters, aunts and their daughters. She passed out and woke up hours later surrounded by bodies.
In 2008, her attackers were sentenced to life in prison after a high-profile trial for rape and murder. But in August 2022, the state government granted them a remission under a provision of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure that allows prisoners to be released after serving 14 years.
The decision sparked outrage across India, with protests in support of Bano taking place from Calcutta to Mumbai. Critics claimed the decision to release the men was tainted by political, misogynistic and religious discrimination.