IAS officer in ‘disbelief’ over release of Bilkis case convicts: ‘As a woman…’

An IAS officer belonging to Telangana cadre expressed shock over the release of 11 men convicted in gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her 5-year-old daughter and 13 others during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Smita Sabharwal, popularly known as The People’s Officer, said that she, as a woman and a civil servant, sits in disbelief on reading about the release of the convicts of Bilkis Bano case. (Also Read | 'Furious and broken': Trinamool MP Mimi Chakraborty on Bilkis Bano; 'Waiting,' tweets Nusrat Jahan)

“As a woman and a civil servant I sit in disbelief, on reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase,” the 2001-batch IAS officer tweeted. “We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation.”

‘Give back my right to live without…'

Sabharwal also posted a statement by Bilkis Bano's advocate on the survivor's behalf in which she said that the release of the convicts has shaken her faith in justice and left her numb.

Watch: Bilkis Bano's plea to Gujarat govt after her rapists walk free

"On August 15, 2022, the trauma of the past 20 years washed over me again when I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life and took from me my three-year-old daughter had walked free," she said in a statement released by her lawyer Sobha. “I was bereft of words. I am still numb.”

She has appealed to the Gujarat government to "undo this harm" and give back her right to "live without fear and in peace."

The release of the convicts under the old 1992 remission policy has triggered nationwide outrage, with many calling on the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter. Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Jairam Ramesh, among others, blasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying the decision would not have been made without a nod from the central government.

The row intensified after a BJP MLA, who was a part of the state government panel that recommended the release, said that some of the convicts are "Brahmins" with good 'sanskaar', or values. C K Raulji, the BJP MLA from Godhra, said he does not know whether the convicts were involved in the crime.

"We took the decision on the basis of a Supreme Court order. We were asked to look at their (convicts') behaviour and decide (on their early release)," Raulji told MoJo, a news portal. "We asked the jailer and learnt that their behaviour was good in the prison...also (some of the convicts) are Brahmins. They have good 'sanskaar' (values)," he added.