Ahmedabad: All 11 life imprisonment convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang-rape case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail under the Gujarat government’s remission policy, reported PTI.
The 11 accused were, on January 21, 2008, sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family by a special CBI court in Mumbai.
Bano, 19 years old at that time, was five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots on March 3.
Following a challenge, the conviction was upheld by the Bombay High Court.
After serving more than 15 years in jail, one of the convicts approached the Supreme Court with a plea for his premature release.
The apex court then directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence. The state government had formed a committee, headed by Panchmahals Collector Sujal Mayatra.
“A committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case. The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their release,” said Mayatra.
