‘I smiled for first time in 1.5 years’: Bilkis Bano after SC cancels remission of 11 convicts

“Today is truly the New Year for me. I have wept tears of relief. I have smiled for the first time in over a year and half. I have hugged my children.

It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again,” Bilkis Bano said in her first reaction after the Supreme Court on Monday quashed the early release of 11 men jailed for life for gang-raping her and murdering her seven relatives during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In a note issued through her advocate Shobha Gupta, she said: “This is what justice feels like. I thank the honourable Supreme Court of India for giving me, my children and women everywhere, this vindication and hope in the promise of equal justice for all”.

Bano was three months pregnant when she was gang-raped. Her three-year-old daughter was among seven of her relatives who were murdered during the riots, which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead.

The 11 men were convicted in 2008. The Gujarat government ordered their release in August 2022, drawing condemnation.

The Supreme Court on Monday said Gujarat did not have the authority to reduce the sentence since the trial was moved to Mumbai, which made Maharashtra responsible for the decision. It said a 2022 order of the court directing the Gujarat government to consider remission was obtained fraudulently and by suppressing material facts.

“A year and half ago, on August 15, 2022, when those who had destroyed my family and terrorised my very existence, were given an early release, I simply collapsed. I felt I had exhausted my reservoir of courage. Until a million solidarities came my way,” Bano said in the note.

“Thousands of ordinary people and women of India came forward. They stood with me, spoke for me, and filed PIL petitions in the Supreme Court. 6000 people from all over, and 8500 people from Mumbai wrote appeals; 10,000 people wrote an Open Letter, as did 40,000 people from 29 districts of Karnataka. To each of these people, my gratitude for your precious solidarity and strength. You gave me the will to struggle, to rescue the idea of justice not just for me, but for every woman in India. I thank you,” said Bilkis .

Bano and her family have relocated from their native Randhikpur village in Gujarat due to safety concerns.

“Bilkis Bano never returned to her native Randhikpur where the gruesome violence took place. She stayed for a year in Devgadh Baria (about 30 kms from Randhikpur) and then moved to different parts of the state and country. She had again started living in Devgadh Baria again when the convicts were released and for the last one year, she has been moving from one house to another, keeping a low profile. Now for the last 12-15 days, she has left Devgadh Baria and moved elsewhere,” said her uncle, Abdul Razzak Mansuri, a witness in the gang rape case.

He said that they were happy to learn that justice has been served and that all the convicts are now required to surrender within two weeks. He called the Gujarat government’s move to release the convicts erroneous.

A Randhikpur resident cited safety concerns and said the family left the village ahead of the Supreme Court decision.

Opposition Congress leader Manish Doshi welcomed the order and said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been exposed. “The Supreme Court has aptly addressed the matter, acknowledging concerns and delivering a fitting response. The decision to release the convicts early was made for political advantage ahead of the Gujarat elections in December 2022. The BJP government’s attempt to shield those opposed to the law while neglecting those in need of protection and at the receiving end has been highlighted,” said Doshi.

Bano has lived through immense mental stress in the last 16 months since the 11 were released from jail, her relatives said. Bano, who lives with her husband, three daughters and a son have been living life in a suitcase for the past one and half year, moving from one house to another.

The village of Randhikpur, comprising over 350 houses, including 80 homes belonging to the Muslim community, has witnessed a significant exodus. Some Muslim families have relocated up to three or four times since last year. There would be less than a dozen Muslim families left in the village today, said Mansuri.

Bano’s husband has been grappling with the challenges of securing steady employment, resulting in financial strain for the family. The education of their children has also taken a hit, forcing them to discontinue their studies. The community members have been giving financial support to the family.

Saddam Sheikh, 29-year-old and Bano’s paternal cousin, is one of the two surviving eyewitnesses in the case. The other surviving witness is Bilkis herself.

“I was barely seven years old. Witnessing the atrocities inflicted upon my cousin sister and other family members left a lasting imprint on my young mind. Even now, those distressing images are vividly etched in my memory. The news of the convicts being released by the Gujarat government made me shake with fear. I remember shedding tears out of sheer apprehension. The thought of them being incarcerated once more brings me some relief. But I find it very difficult to convince myself that they may not be free again,” shared Sheikh, who has been residing in Ahmedabad for the past 21 years and has visited Randhikpur only once, for a marriage function. He currently works in a footwear store.