'Part of pattern': US panel for religious freedom SLAMS release of Bilkis Bano case convicts

USCIRF Vice Chair Abraham Cooper said the panel, "strongly condemns the early and unjustified release of 11 men sentenced to life in prison for raping a pregnant Muslim woman."

Pic Credit: File Photo

New Delhi: Amid outrage over the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, an independent US panel on religous freedom has slammed the decision as well and called it a 'travesty of justice'. 

The US Commission of International Religious Freedom Vice Chair Abraham Cooper, in a statement, said, "USCIRF strongly condemns the early and unjustified release of 11 men sentenced to life in prison for raping a pregnant Muslim woman and committing murder against Muslim victims during the 2002 Gujarat Riots."

USCIRF Commissioner @StephenSchneck: “The failure to hold accountable perpetrators of the 2002 Gujarat Riots who committed physical & sexual violence is a travesty of justice. It's part of a pattern of impunity in India for those engaged in violence against religious minorities." — USCIRF (@USCIRF) August 19, 2022

The panel's Commissioner Stephen Schneck also hinted that this decision was a part of a "pattern of imputiny" for those involved in violence against religious minorities. 

“The failure to hold accountable perpetrators of the 2002 Gujarat Riots who committed physical & sexual violence is a travesty of justice. It's part of a pattern of impunity in India for those engaged in violence against religious minorities," Schneck said.

Bilkis Bano case

On March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano was gangraped while there were riots in Gujarat. She was 19 and pregnant. Her three-year-old daughter was one of the seven family members who were killed by the rioters near Ahmedabad. The girl was taken from her mother's arms by one of the convicts, who then hit her head on a rock.

The BJP government in Gujarat has released all the 11 people convicted for the rape of a pregnant Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, under a 1992 remission policy.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, had sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gangrape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

(With agency inputs)