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Bilkis Bano

birth palce Radhikpur Village, Dahod, Gujarat
Bilkis Bano biography

The Supreme Court on January 8, 2024 struck down the remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts, who are out of jail, in the Bilkis Bano case and also directed them to report to jail authorities within two weeks.

Eleven men were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002 were released from Godhra sub-jail on August 15, 2022 after a panel set up by the Gujarat government approved their application for remission of the sentence.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Raj Kumar said the remission application was considered because the convicts had completed 14 years in jail, and factors such as “age, nature of the crime, behaviour in prison and so on”.

Bilkis was brutally gangraped during the communal violence that followed the Godhra train-burning incident. She was 21 years old at the time, and five months pregnant. Seven members of her family were killed by rioters.

On February 28, 2002, Bilkis fled her village, Radhikpur in Dahod district, after violence erupted in the state in the aftermath of the previous day’s incident at Godhra station, in which the Sabarmati Express was set on fire, resulting in the deaths of dozens of pilgrims and kar sewaks returning from Ayodhya.

Bilkis was accompanied by her daughter Saleha, who was three-and-a-half years old at the time, and 15 other members of her family. They fled fearing a re-run of the arson and looting that had taken place in their village on the occasion of Bakr-Id a few days previously.

On March 3, 2002, the family reached Chapparwad village. According to the chargesheet, they were attacked by about 20-30 people armed with sickles, swords, and sticks. Among the attackers were the 11 accused men.

Bilkis, her mother, and three other women were raped and brutally assaulted. Of the 17-member group of Muslims from Radhikpur village, eight were found dead, six were missing. Only Bilkis, a man, and a three-year-old survived the attack.

Bilkis remained unconscious for at least three hours after the attack. After she regained consciousness, she borrowed clothes from an Adivasi woman, and met a Home Guard who took her to the Limkheda police station. She registered a complaint with Head Constable Somabhai Gori who, according to the CBI, “suppressed material facts and wrote a distorted and truncated version” of her complaint.

Bilkis was taken to a public hospital for medical examination only after she reached the Godhra relief camp. Her case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Supreme Court, which ordered an investigation by the CBI.

The CBI concluded that the post mortem examination was carried out shoddily in order to protect the accused. CBI investigators exhumed the bodies of those killed in the attack, and said that none of the seven bodies had skulls.

According to the CBI, the heads of the corpses had been severed after the autopsy, so that the bodies could not be identified.

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Bilkis Bano personal life
Spouse
Yakub Rasool

BILKIS BANO NEWS

From the Urdu Press: 'A Haryana loss will hit BJP in Maharashtra, Jharkhand', 'In Bilkis Bano case, Gujarat remains tone-deaf'

October 01, 2024 3:25 pm

“Mahayuti continues to face headwinds. Although it is clutching at straws such as Ladki Bahin Yojana, even its leaders are not sure of electoral dividends," writes Inquilab

Two Bilkis Bano case convicts move SC against verdict that cancelled their remission

March 03, 2024 8:23 am

The plea, filed through Advocate Rishi Malhotra, pointed out that in Rupa Ashok Hurra’s case, the SC “had devised a mechanism in the form of ‘Curative Petition’ which can be filed by a concerned party after dismissal of a Review Petition”.

Niece's wedding, second Bilkis Bano case convict moves HC for parole

February 16, 2024 8:57 pm

Chandana and 10 other life term convicts in the Bilkis Bano case had surrendered shortly before midnight on January 21, after the SC on January 8 annulled the remission and premature release granted to them by the Gujarat government on August 15, 2022.

Gujarat to SC: Review Bilkis order, remarks on state are unwarranted

February 14, 2024 12:07 pm

The plea said that the Supreme Court holding the state of Gujarat guilty of “usurpation of power” and “abuse of discretion” in its order “is an error apparent on the face of the record”.

In-law dead, Bilkis Bano case convict out on parole a fortnight after surrender

February 09, 2024 7:13 am

The court of Justice M R Mengdey on February 5 allowed Modhiya parole from February 7 to 11. In his plea, moved on January 31, Modhiya had sought 30-day parole due to his father-in-law’s death.

Daily Briefing: Stage set for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Mandir today; Bilkis Bano case convicts surrender at Godhra jail

January 22, 2024 8:47 am

In today’s edition: Temple town awaits Ram Mandir consecration; Bilkis convicts surrender; what to expect in Interim Budget; Satwik-Chirag at India Open; and more

Close to deadline, Bilkis Bano case convicts surrender, reach Godhra jail

January 23, 2024 8:48 am

The Bilkis Bano case convicts had been granted remission and premature release by the Gujarat government in August 2022, which the SC annulled on January 8.

Bilkis Bano case: SC dismisses plea by convicts seeking time to surrender

January 20, 2024 1:45 am

The Supreme Court had on January 8 asked the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case to surrender to the jail authorities within two weeks. The deadline expires on January 21.

From the Opinions Editor | Bilkis Bano case: SC shows hallmark of enlightened judiciary is in correcting itself

January 14, 2024 11:05 pm

In Bilkis Bano Case, SC displays hallmark of enlightened judiciary.

Now 28, youngest eyewitness in Bilkis case is a broken man: 'Do not feel any happiness after verdict... Want my nightmares to end'

January 11, 2024 10:39 pm

One of the 73 prosecution witnesses in the Bilkis Bano case, he was part of the group that was attacked by a mob in Limkheda taluka of Gujarat's Dahod district on March 3, 2002, days after the Godhra incident.

BILKIS BANO PHOTOS

Bilkis Bano case: India sees protests against remission of 11 convicts

August 28, 2022 10:29 am

Bilkis Bano was gangraped and her three-year-old daughter Saleha was among the 14 killed by a mob on March 3, 2002, in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district in Gujarat.

Feeling unsafe, Muslim families flee Randhikpur after Bilkis Bano convicts are freed

August 23, 2022 11:43 am

On Monday, loaded tempo rickshaws were seen bringing in residents of Randhikpur into the Rahi-mabad Relief Colony. These families have decided to stay until “a decision is made” regarding the release of the convicts in Bilkis Bano case. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Bilkis Bano case: Activists stage protests against remission of life sentence to convicts

August 18, 2022 6:58 pm

Eleven convicts serving life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case from the 2002 Gujarat riots were freed from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after a state government panel approved their application for remission of sentence.

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