India’s highest court has decided that a Gujarat government order to release 11 men early, who were convicted of raping a pregnant Muslim woman named Bilkis Bano, is not allowed.
The men must go back to prison in two weeks, the order stated.
The prisoners who killed 14 of Bano’s family members were in jail for life.
They were in a group of Hindu people who hurt Bano and her family during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
Their release in August 2022 made people really mad around the world. People were even more upset when they were greeted like heroes outside the Godhra jail, and their relatives gave them sweets and touched their feet to show respect.
The highest court listened to many requests, including one from Bano, who was questioning the release of the people found guilty. Bano said that letting the men out of prison early made people feel really upset. She said it was one of the worst crimes ever in our country and that the release shocked and numbed her.
The Supreme Court said that Gujarat didn’t have the authority to decide to release the men from prison because they were convicted in a court in Maharashtra.
“The government of the state where the person who committed the crime is punished is the one that can decide to reduce their sentence, not the government of the state where the crime happened,” she said.
The judges said that because the government’s decision to release the prisoners early was cancelled, the 11 people who were convicted of a crime have to go back to jail within two weeks.
“Justice means protecting the rights of both the people who did something wrong and the people who were harmed. The most important job of the court is to make sure that everyone is treated fairly and according to the law,” Justice Nagarathna explained. She also said that it’s crucial to maintain the rule of law even if it causes some problems.
The decision is a big deal and will likely cause some trouble, especially in Gujarat where the state has backed the release of the guilty people.
Authorities argued in court that the men, who were found guilty in 2008, had been in prison for over 14 years. They were released because of their age and good behavior while in jail. The government of the state asked for permission from the federal government, and the home ministry, led by Amit Shah, approved it.
The decision was made to let them go, even though a court and federal prosecutors said they should not be released early because their crime was very serious.
Days after the men who hurt her were let go, Bano said the decision was unfair and made her lose faith in justice.
“When I found out the criminals who hurt my family and ruined my life were released from prison, I was speechless. ” “I can’t feel anything,” she said.
“Why did this happen to a woman. I believed in our top courts for justice. ” I believed in the system and I was starting to get used to living with my trauma. She wrote that letting these criminals out of jail has made her feel scared and worried, and it has made her lose hope in the fairness of the legal system. She asked the government to fix this and make her feel safe and peaceful again.
The attack on Bano and her family was one of the worst crimes during the riots. The riots started after 60 Hindu pilgrims died in a fire on a train in Godhra town.
Hindu mobs attacked Muslim neighborhoods, saying Muslims caused the fire. In three days, over 1,000 people died. Most of them were Muslims.
The day after the train fire, Bano, who was 19 and expecting her second baby, was at her parents’ house in a village called Randhikpur near Godhra with her three-year-old daughter.
After some people caused trouble in the village and began burning Muslim homes, Bano and her family ran away. She told me this when we met a few years ago.
She was with 16 other people, including her daughter, mother, pregnant cousin, younger siblings, nieces, nephews, and two adult men.
In the next few days, they went from one village to another, finding shelter in mosques or relying on the kindness of Hindu neighbors for food.
On the morning of 3 March 2002, a group of men attacked them with swords and sticks as they were going to a nearby village to be safe.
“One of them grabbed my daughter and threw her onto the ground, hitting her head on a rock. ”
Her neighbors, men she knew very well from seeing them every day when she was growing up, were the ones who attacked her. They ripped off her clothes and raped her, even though she begged them to stop.
Her cousin had a baby two days ago, but while they were running away, her cousin was attacked, her cousin was killed and her baby was also killed.
Bano stayed alive because she passed out and her attackers thought she was dead so they went away. Two boys, ages seven and four, were the only other people who stayed alive after the massacre.
She fought for fairness for a long time and it was really hard. There is proof that some police and government officials scared her, got rid of evidence, and buried people without checking their bodies. The doctors checked her and said she wasn’t raped. After that, she got death threats.
The first people were taken into custody for the case in 2004. This happened after India’s highest court gave the case to federal investigators and moved it from Gujarat to Mumbai. The court said that the courts in Gujarat couldn’t give her fair treatment.
Many people were upset with Mr. Modi, who was the leader of Gujarat, for not doing enough to stop the violence. He says he didn’t do anything wrong and hasn’t said sorry for the riots.
In 2013, a group of judges from the highest court also said there was not enough proof to charge him with a crime. Critics keep blaming him for the riots that are happening while he is in charge.
Over time, many people have been found guilty by the courts for taking part in the riots. However, some well-known people accused of being involved were released on bail or cleared of the charges by higher courts. This is about Maya Kodnani, who used to be a minister in Mr. Modi’s cabinet in Gujarat. She was called the main person responsible for the riots in one area by a trial court.