The battle over the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case continues as the Centre and Gujarat Government are set to challenge an order by the Supreme Court seeking files on the remission of sentence for 11 convicts in the case. The government has shown reluctance in producing the documents related to the remission of sentence.
Ms Bano approached the Supreme Court last year in November, objecting to the early release of the convicts by the state government. She stated that the remission of sentence has shaken the conscience of society. Ms Bano lost seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Supreme Court on March 27 ordered the Gujarat government and the Centre to present the files related to the remission of sentence. The bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna questioned the remission granted to the 11 convicts during their incarceration period and emphasized that the gravity of the offence should have been considered by the state.
The Supreme Court stated pointed out that the gang-rape of a pregnant woman and the murder of several people could not be compared to standard Section 302 cases of the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court will hear several requests contesting the remission to the convicts on May 2 and has ordered all convicts who have not been served notice to send their replies.
On March 27, the Supreme Court labeled the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and the murder of her family members as a horrendous act and questioned the Gujarat government whether uniform standards, as followed in other murder cases, were applied while granting remission to the 11 convicts. She was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while escaping the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.
