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 gangraping her will soon be back behind the bars. Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled that convicts, who got released last year for "good behaviour", must return to jail.
The convicts have to surrender within two weeks, the top court said, declaring that the exercise of power by the Gujarat government was "without application of mind". The state was not competent to release the men, since only the state where the trial was held -- in this case Maharashtra -- is empowered to do this, the judges pointed out.
"I have wept tears of relief. I have smiled for the first time in over a year and half. I have hugged my children. It feels like a stone 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 honourable 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 half ago, on August 15, 2022, when those who had destroyed my family and terrorised my very existence, were given an early release, I simply collapsed," she said. To those who stood with her during that period, "my gratitude for your precious solidarity and strength," she said. "You gave me the will to struggle, to rescue the idea of justice not just for me, but for every woman in India. I thank you," Bilkis Bano said.
"It was as if a decision was made first and process applied later, and if i dare say, unmindfully," remarked Shobha Gupta, who has been Bilkis Bano's legal counsel for decades. She also questioned the "good behaviour" of the men that was cited for their release. "What was the reflection of the good behaviour? Nothing was reflecting," she said.
The men were released on Independence Day last year by the Gujarat government through an obsolete law, setting off a wave of outrage across the country. Bilkis Bano said she was was not informed about the release and expressed concern about the huge risk to her security it entailed.
Once out, the men received a hero's welcome, with sweets and garlands. Some of them were later spotted sharing stage with a BJP MP and MLA.
The convict who made the initial petition for release, Radheshaym Shah, had even started practicing law, the top court was told during the hearing.