Bilkis Bano case: Convicts should be hanged or kept in jail for life, says sole eyewitness

In 2008, all the 11 convicts were awarded life imprisonment by a special court in Mumbai and the decision was upheld by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in 2017.

The eyewitness in the Bilkis Bano case has said that justice will only be served when the 11 convicts in the gruesome crime are hanged or jailed for their entire lives, the PTI reported.

Bilkis Bano's cousin, the only eyewitness in the case was just seven-years-old when a mob attacked Bano and other members of the minority community in Limkheda taluka of Gujarat’s Dahod district and killed 14 of them during riots that erupted in 2002 after the Godhra train burning incident.

“All the convicts must be either hanged for or they must be kept behind bars for the remainder of their lives. Only then justice will be served. These men must never be set free again,” he told PTI.

The 28-years-old, who lives in Ahmedabad with his wife and a 5-year-old son, told the news agency PTI, “I had endured the trauma of watching my loved ones being killed in front of my eyes. I still wake up in the night and scream as those moments haunt me even after all these years."

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed remission granted to 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano's gang-rape case and nullified its May 2022 judgment that had directed the Gujarat Government to consider the remission applications of the convicts. The court held that not only the judgment was "bad in law" but also obtained by "fraud" as one of the petitioners (also a convict) had suppressed crucial facts and made misleading statements.

Speaking on the Gujarat government's decision, Bilkis Bano's cousin said that he was hurt, but is now relieved after the top court has overturned it. "I am somewhat relieved now because they will be sent behind bars once again. My mother and my elder sister were among the 14 who were killed that day in front of my eyes, he said.

Bilkis Bano Rasool was 21-years-old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. Seven members of her family including her three-year-old daughter were killed in the riots.

In 2008, all the 11 convicts were awarded life imprisonment by a special court in Mumbai and the decision was upheld by a division bench of the Bombay High Court in 2017.