Fadnavis: Wrong to felicitate any convict

MumbaiDeputy chief minister on Tuesday Devendra Fadnavis opposed the felicitation of the 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano, saying that such acts cannot be justified.

The men, who walked out of a sub-jail in Godhra on August 15 after serving over 14 years of their sentence, were garlanded and offered sweets by relatives, who also touched their feet.

Speaking in the legislative council in a debate related to Bhandara gang rape case, Fadnavis said that it was wrong to felicitate any convict and such acts cannot be justified.

Opposition legislators raised the issue of women’s safety in the backdrop of several heinous crimes against women including the one in Bhandara district in which a 36-year woman was gang raped at least on two occasions in Gondia and Bhandara districts on July 30 and August 2, respectively. The accused also brutalized her, causing serious internal injuries.

“There was no need to raise the Bilkis Bano case here (in the House). The convicts have been released after completing nearly 14 years in jail. They were released following a Supreme Court order. But it is wrong if any accused is felicitated. An accused is an accused and such acts cannot be justified,” the deputy chief minister said.

His statement was in response to the Bilkis Bano case raised by a legislator.

Eleven convicts, sentenced to life imprisonment, walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008 had sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on charges of gang-rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

Bilkis Bano was 21-years-old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence that broke out after the Godhra train burning. Among those killed was her three-year-old daughter.