India’s Supreme Court has nullified the remission granted to 11 Hindu men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her relatives during the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. The court, in its decision on Monday, instructed the 11 men to surrender to prison authorities in Gujarat within two weeks.
Rejecting their plea for liberty protection, the court stated, “Their plea for protection of their liberty is rejected. To keep them out would not be in consonance with the rule of law.”
Bilkis Bano, now in her 40s, was five months pregnant when she was subjected to gang rape during the violent episode that claimed nearly 2,000 lives, predominantly Muslims, in some of the most severe religious riots India has witnessed. In a particularly gruesome incident, seven of Bano’s relatives, including her three-year-old daughter, were murdered in Gujarat’s Dahod district, where the perpetrators smashed the toddler’s head on the ground.
The riots occurred during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gujarat’s chief minister, and the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to govern the state. The events of the 2002 riots have long been a contentious issue for Modi, who faced accusations of allowing the bloodshed that persisted for weeks.