{"id":45311,"date":"2024-01-08T11:20:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T11:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/indias-top-court-overrules-early-release-of-11-convicts-in-bilkis-bano-gang-rape-case\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T11:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T11:20:06","slug":"indias-top-court-overrules-early-release-of-11-convicts-in-bilkis-bano-gang-rape-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/indias-top-court-overrules-early-release-of-11-convicts-in-bilkis-bano-gang-rape-case\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s top court overrules early release of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano gang rape case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>India\u2019s top court ruled on Monday that 11 murderers convicted of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1331051\">gang rape<\/a> that drew global outrage but who were released early must return to jail.<\/p>\n<p>Bilkis Bano and two of her children were the only survivors among a group of Muslims attacked by a Hindu mob in the western state of Gujarat in 2002 during one of post-independence India\u2019s worst religious riots.<\/p>\n<p>Bilkis was pregnant at the time and seven of the 14 people murdered were relatives, including her three-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1265474\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The attack took place when Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi, now India\u2019s prime minister, was the premier of Gujarat.<\/p>\n<p>Modi was accused of turning a blind eye to the riots but was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2012, two years before his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/773451\/the-secret-behind-modis-poll-hat-trick\">won national power<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/scroll.in\/latest\/836545\/bilkis-bano-rape-case-bombay-high-court-upholds-life-terms-of-11-convicts\">11 convicts<\/a> were freed in August 2022 following a recommendation by a state government panel, but must now return to jail within two weeks, the Supreme Court in New Delhi ruled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir plea for protection of their liberty is rejected,\u201d the Supreme Court said. Allowing them to remain free would \u201cnot be in consonance of the rule of law\u201d, it added.<\/p>\n<p>The men were accorded a heroes\u2019 welcome when they were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1705205\">released<\/a> in 2022 and a <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/himansshhi\/status\/1559408985035382785\">viral video<\/a> showed relatives and supporters welcoming them with sweets and garlands.<\/p>\n<p>The convicts\u2019 release triggered angry reactions across the country, especially since it coincided with India\u2019s Independence Day celebrations, when Modi spoke about women\u2019s safety and security.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1705659\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Soon afterwards, Bilkis said she was \u201cbereft of words\u201d. At the time, she said in a statement released by her lawyer that she \u201ctrusted the system\u201d and was \u201clearning slowly to live with her trauma\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice,\u201d she said then. \u201cMy sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The opposition Congress party welcomed today\u2019s ruling, saying it exposed the BJP\u2019s \u201ccallous disregard for women\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a slap on the face of those who facilitated the illegal release of these criminals and also those who garlanded the convicts and fed sweets to them,\u201d spokesman Pawan Khera <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pawankhera\/status\/1744240934873629097\">posted<\/a> on X, previously known as Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndia will not allow administration of justice to be incumbent on the religion or the caste of the victim or the perpetrator of a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"media  sm:w-full  w-full  media--stretch    media--uneven  media--stretch\"><figcaption class=\"media__caption  \">Screengrab of Pawan Khera\u2019s Google-translated post on X.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s top court ruled on Monday that 11 murderers convicted of a gang rape that drew global outrage but who were released early must return to jail. Bilkis Bano and two of her children were the only survivors among a group of Muslims attacked by a Hindu mob in the western state of Gujarat in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/08135625c19e95d.jpg?r=140945","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}