Bilkis Bano convict was booked for outraging woman's modesty while on parole in 2020

One of the offenders found guilty in the Bilkis Bano case is suspected of abusing a woman in 2020 while on parole. In an affidavit presented to the Supreme Court by the Gujarati government, the Under Secretary of the state's home department stated that Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt is accused of violating the law by offending a woman's modesty.

According to the Indian Express, SP of Police at that time stated that he was accused of committing a crime under Section 354, 504, 506 (2) and 114 of the IPC while he was out on parole and the complaint was filed against him, trial of which is still pending, at Randhikpur police station. 

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When the state government was reviewing the request to release the 11 convicts, including Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt on remission, the district superintendent of police (SP) Balram Meena gave the information to the District Magistrate Dahod.

According to the affidavit, the incident happened on June 19, 2022. The affidavit also said that Mitesh had been on parole, which amounted to two and a half years, until May 25, before his release. He also spent 281 days outside the jail following his arrest under Section 354 of the Penal Code.

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What was Bilkis Bano case?

After serving an 18-year sentence in prison and receiving a life sentence reduction from the Gujarat government, all 11 convicts were released from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after completing their punishments. The 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang-rape case resulted in a life sentence for them.

In the wake of the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat on March 3, 2002, seven members of Bilkis Bano's family were brutally murdered by a mob in Limkheda Taluka of the Dahod region. When she was five months pregnant, 19-year-old Bilkis was the victim of a gang rape.

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