Bilkis Bano was aged 21 and pregnant when she was gang-raped by the 11 convicted men.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 rapists of riot-victim Bilkis Bano, saying "aren't you ashamed of such politics". He also accused the BJP of supporting Unnao and Hathras rape accused in Uttar Pradesh, Kathua rape accused in Jammu and Kashmir and now Bano's rapists in the BJP-ruled state.
"Unnao - worked to save BJP MLA. Kathua - rally in favor of rapists. Hathras - the government in favor of rapists. Gujarat - the release and honor of rapists. The support to criminals displays the petty mindset of the BJP towards women. Are you not ashamed of such politics, Prime Minister ji," he tweeted in Hindi.
Bilkis Bano was aged 21 and pregnant when she was gang-raped by the 11 convicted men. Her family members, including her three-year-daughter, were killed by the rioters. A special CBI court sentenced these 11 men to life imprisonment for gangraping Bano and killing seven members of her family.
P Chidambaram alleged that two BJP MLAs were part of the review panel that granted them remission of sentence.
"There is an interesting side story to the grant of remission to 11 persons convicted for gang rape in Gujarat. Among the Review Panel were two BJP MLAs Shri C. K. Raolji and Shri Suman Chauhan!
"Another member was Shri Murli Mulchandani who was a key witness for the prosecution in the Godhra Train burning case!," he alleged on Twitter.
All the convicts had completed 15 years in jail.
Bilkis Bano wrote an emotive statement over the release of the rapists.
“Two days ago, on August 15, 2022, the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again. When I heard that the 11 convicted men, who devastated my family and my life, and took from me my three-year-old daughter, had walked free. I was bereft of words. I am still numb. Today, I can say only this - how can justice for any woman end like this?” read the statement issued by Bilkis’ advocate Shobha Gupta late on Wednesday evening
With inputs from PTI
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