Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad MP, Asaduddin Owaisi, on Monday, welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict that quashed the remission orders passed by the Gujarat government setting free 11 convicts in a case of gang-rape of Bano and murder of her family members committed during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Targeting the BJP government in Gujarat and at the Center, he criticized the earlier welcoming of the rapists upon their release from jail.
BJP govt helped rapists in Bilkis Bano case: Asaduddin Owaisi
Quoting the Supreme Court, which stated that “the state of Gujarat acted in complicity with the convicts,” Asaduddin Owaisi accused the BJP government in Gujarat of aiding the rapists.
Welcoming the Supreme Court judgment, he demanded, “BJP government and PM Modi should apologize to Bilkis Bano.”
According to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case must report back to the concerned jail authorities within two weeks. The bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasized that the plea for the protection of the liberty of convicts cannot be accepted, and the “natural consequences” of setting aside remission orders must follow.
The top court nullified the Gujarat government’s decision to release the convicts under the state’s remission policy on August 15, 2022, in the Bilkis Bano case.
Congress criticizes Gujarat BJP
Following the judgment, not only Asaduddin Owaisi but also the Congress criticized the Gujarat BJP. The Congress claimed that the Gujarat BJP government prioritized saving the criminals rather than ensuring justice for the victim.
Bilkis Bano, 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, was raped while fleeing the communal riots that erupted after the Godhra train-burning incident in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.
