New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday shared a picture on Twitter claiming that one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder case was present at a government event with two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Gujarat. The convicted rapist was allegedly attending the launch of a water supply scheme with Dahod BJP MP Jasvantsinh Bhabhor and his brother, Limkheda MLA Sailesh Bhabhor. Moitra criticized the ruling BJP government and called for the imprisonment of the convicts, urging people to vote out the party that supports such a "travesty of justice."



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The 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for gangraping a five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old at the time, and murdering seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the Gujarat riots that followed the attack on Sabarmati Express.


Last year, the convicts were released prematurely on Independence Day under the state government's outdated remission policy of 1992. This decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court, and the case will be heard on Monday (March 27) by a new bench comprising justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna. A series of petitions have been filed against the release of the rapists in the 2002 case. TMC MP Mahua Moitra is one of the petitioners.


In response to the controversy, Jasvantsinh Bhabhor shared pictures from the government program and wrote, "At Limkheda taluka of Dahod district, Kadana dam bulk pipeline-based Limkheda group water supply scheme under the estimated amount of 101.89 crore works was laid. In which 43 villages of Limkheda taluka, 18 villages of Singhwad taluka, and 3 villages of Jhalod taluka will benefit from this scheme." 


Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members who were killed. The case was handed over to the CBI for investigation and the trial was moved to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court. On January 21, 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment for the crimes of gang-rape and murder.


The conviction was later upheld by both the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. However, the Gujarat government released the 11 men from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 of the previous year due to their remission policy, after having served over 15 years in prison.