Bilkis Bano Rapists Were Out Of Jail For Over 1,000 Days Before Release

• Image Credit: Google

• Oct 18, 2022 | Digital Desk

Before the inmates were released on this Independence Day, one of them had been out of jail for over...

Digital Desk: A court document revealed that the 11 men who were found guilty of the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family were free on parole for more than a thousand days while serving life sentences.

Before the inmates were released on this Independence Day, one of them had been out of jail for over 1,500 days. Rameshbhai Rupabhai Chandana enjoyed 1,198 days of parole leave and 378 days of furlough (short-term temporary release of convicts from jail), amounting to a total of 1,576 days outside the jail. The document revealed that two others had been outside for more than 1,200 days.

The Gujarat government informed the Supreme Court that the convicts were freed earlier this year with the agreement of the Centre, despite the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation and a special court had opposed their release for committing the "heinous" crime.

The clearance came from the home ministry on July 11, just two weeks after the state government asked it, according to the records. Their release set off a political uproar in which the Gujarat BJP government came under fire from the opposition.

The Supreme Court is currently hearing three petitions that challenge the inmates' release.

The Gujarati government stated in its affidavit to the Supreme Court that the prisoners had served 14 years in prison and that their behaviour had been deemed to be good.

According to records, the CBI opposed their early release last year, claiming that they had committed a "heinous, severe, and serious" offense.

A special court also rejected the release, stating that "the crime was done simply because the victims belong to a particular religion, and in this case, even little children were not spared."

"This is worst form of hate crime and crime against the humanity. It affects the consciousness of society," said Special Judge Anand L Yawalkar in a letter to the Superintendent of the Godhra sub-jail in March last year.

Bilkis Bano was just 21 years old when she was gang-raped by a mob, and 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, were murdered. A special court in Mumbai sentenced the convicted to life imprisonment, which was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.