Bilkis Bano case: TRS leader K Kavitha urges CJI to 'save nation's faith' as rape convicts walk free

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Kavitha on Friday said she had written to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to intervene and reverse the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case and save the nation’s faith in the country’s laws.

The TRS MLC from Nizamabad, who is also the daughter of chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, shared on Twitter the letter she had written to the CJI.

Kavitha said the release of the 11 rape and murder convicts from jail was based on the 1992 policy for remission but the states revised this policy in 2014 which makes the convicts ineligible for release.

Also Read | The Bilkis Bano case should matter to every woman

She further wrote, “Crimes such as rape shake very core of our social conscience and seeing convicted rapists walk out freely on a day such as our independence day sends shivers down the spine of every woman and indeed every citizen who places their faith in the laws of the land and the justice system of our country.”

The 11 convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 by a special CBI court for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. The convicts were released on August 15 this year, citing the remission policy under the state government.

Also Read | Release of rapists has shaken my faith in justice, says Bilkis Bano

The former member of Parliament said the case was investigated by the CBI and punishment was meted out by the special CBI court in which the state government as such cannot take a decision, except after consulting the central government under Section 435 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code. She asked whether the release of the convicts, in this case, was done in consultation with the Central government.

“Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and 5 months pregnant at the time when this heinous crime took place and to imagine her seeing her rapists walking free with impunity, then being garlanded and celebrated for release must have shattered her,” Kavitha wrote.

A day ago, over 6,000 citizens, including grassroots-level workers, women and human rights activists, urged the Supreme Court to revoke the remission of sentences for the 11 men. The release of the 11 men on Independence Day, hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about empowerment of women during his address to the nation, have triggered a massive outrage across the country.