A sitting BJP MLA from Godhra has said that all the 11 people, who were convicted for the rape of Bilkis Bano and now released by the Gujarat government after spending more than 15 years in jail, were “Brahmins” and “Known for good manners.” CK Raulji further supported the convicts and said that the charges were leveled against them because of “somebody’s wrong intention”.
On 3 March 2002, Bilkis’s family was attacked by a mob in Randhikpur village of Limkheda taluka of Dahod district of Gujarat. Bilkis, who was then five months pregnant, was gang-raped and seven of her family members killed by the rioters.
The 11 life-term convicts in the case staged a walkout from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the BJP-led government in Gujarat allowed their release as part of its remission policy.
“I don’t know whether he has committed any crime or not. But there must be an intention to commit a crime. They were brahmins and brahmins are known to have good manners. There may have been a malafide intention to corner someone and punish them,” Raulji, who was part of the Gujarat government-led panel that unanimously decided to release the convicts, was reportedly recorded by him. In a video made, he was heard saying this. Mojo Story Which has gone viral on social media.
The BJP MLA also said that the conduct of all the 11 people while serving their jail term in the 2002 Gujarat riots’ Bilkis Bano case was good.
“He is a Brahmin, a man of good manners. His conduct in jail was good”: BJP MLA #CKRaulji
BJP now calls rapists ‘men of good sanskar’. This is the lowest a party can ever fall for! @ktrtrs @pbhushan1 pic.twitter.com/iuOZ9JTbhh
— YSR (@ysathishreddy) 18 August 2022
According to the Gujarat government, all 11 life convicts were released as per the exemption policy prevailing in the state at the time of their conviction in 2008. A top government official rubbished claims of violation of the Centre’s guidelines in the matter. The government’s claim, propounded by a senior home department official, comes in the wake of the opposition’s claims that the acquittal of the convicts is in violation of the Centre’s guidelines.
In June this year, the Center had issued special guidelines to the states for the release of convicted prisoners as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. As per the policy, rape convicts were not entitled to premature release from jail. However, according to Gujarat’s Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Raj Kumar, the Supreme Court had asked the government to consider early release of these 11 convicts under the state’s exemption policy, which was in effect when they were handed over to the case by the trial court. was convicted in ,
Gujarat adopted a new and revised exemption policy for prisoners in 2014. In that policy, which is currently in effect, there are detailed guidelines about the categories of convicts who can be given relief or not, the senior bureaucrat said.
After coming out of jail, convict Shailesh Bhatt had claimed that he was a “victim of politics”. Bhatt, 63, who said he was a local functionary of the ruling BJP when he was arrested, and others, including his brother and co-convict Mitesh, left for Singor village in Gujarat’s Dahod district after being released from Godhra jail. departed.
Meanwhile, Bilkis said the premature release of all the convicts has shaken and stunned his faith in justice. It has appealed to the Gujarat government to “undo this loss” and give back the right to “live in peace and without fear”.
Criticizing the move, she said that no one asked about her safety and well-being before taking “such a big and unjust decision”. “On August 15, 2022, the trauma of the past 20 years struck me again when I heard that 11 guilty people who destroyed my family and my life and took my three-year-old daughter away from me were set free. ,” He said. said in a statement issued by his lawyer Shobha on Wednesday.
She said that all she could say was “how can justice for any woman end like this?” “I had faith in the highest courts of my country. I trusted the system, and I was slowly learning to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken away my peace and shaken my faith in justice,” he said, adding, “My sorrow and my shaky faith is not only for me, but for every woman who fights for justice in the courts.” is struggling.”
Bilkis Bano has asked the state government to ensure the safety of the convicts and their family members after their release.
(with inputs from PTI)
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