Eleven Hindu men jailed for life for the gang-rape of a pregnant Muslim woman during Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 have been freed on remission, officials said on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from the victim’s husband, lawyers and politicians.
The men were convicted in early 2008 and released from jail in Panchmahals in the Indian western state of Gujarat on Monday, when India celebrated 75 years since the end of British rule.
The Gujarat violence, one of India’s worst religious riots, led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Gujarat was then led by current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as chief minister, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party still rules it.
Panchmahals’ top bureaucrat said that the district jail advisory committee had recommended the release after considering the time the 11 had spent in jail and their good behaviour.
“The fact is they had spent close to 15 years in jail and were eligible for remission,” Sujal Jayantibhai Mayatra said. Indian laws allow convicts to seek remission after 14 years in jail, officials said.
Media footage showed a man feeding the convicts sweetmeat outside the jail after touching the feet of one of them, a mark of respect. The husband of the victim said they were disappointed because the riots had also killed many family members.
“We have lost our family and want to live in peace, but suddenly this has happened,” Yakub Rasul said. “We had no prior information about their release, either from the courts or the government. We only learnt about it from the media.” In 2008, 13 accused in the case were convicted by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court, while 11 among these were punished with life imprisonment for gang rape and murder. In 2002, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire and claimed the lives of 59 passengers. Hindu right-wing groups exploited the incident and blamed local Muslims, igniting an anti-Muslim pogrom in the western state of India.
Retaliatory violence, spanning several days, caused havoc across the state, where nearly 2,000 people – mostly Muslims – faced worst brutality in the form of being slashed, shot, and even burned to death in Gujarat. Women, in hundreds, were subjected to rape, sexual harassment and assault in what has been deemed as the one of worst instances of human rights violations in India.
Narendra Modi was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence and retaliation Muslims had to endure. He did not do much to even stop the targeting of human rights defenders who fought for the victims of the violations.
Bilkis Bano, along with many other women, were among the victims of the large-scale anti-Muslim riots in India. The 21-year-old Bano was five months pregnant when she was sexually assaulted by the men. She managed to save her life during the carnage by playing dead and eventually lost consciousness.
The eleven men convicted for the murder and sexual assault of women were from Bano’s neighbourhood, she later informed the prosecutors.
Opposition politicians and lawyers said the release contradicted the government’s stated policy of uplifting women in a country notorious for violence against them.
“The remission of the sentence of convicts of a gruesome crime like gang-rape and murder is morally and ethically improper,” said senior lawyer Anand Yagnik. “What is the signal we are trying to send?”
