Residents of Devgadh Baria in Gujarat erupted with joy on Monday after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Bilkis Bano on her plea challenging the early release of the 11 convicts in her gang-rape case. In a video shared by news agency ANI, some people could be seen bursting crackers outside Bano's residence to celebrate the verdict.
On Monday, the top court cancelled Gujarat's government order that allowed the early release of the Bilkis Bano gang-rape convicts, who were awarded life imprisonment in 2008. The apex court also ordered the covincts to surrender before the jail authorities within two weeks.
A witness in the case also hailed the Monday ruling by the top court saying Bano received "justice today".
"I am one of the witnesses in the case. These 11 convicts were handed the punishment by a Maharashtra court. The Gujarat government's decision to release them was wrong. That is why we challenged it in court," Abdul Razaq Mansuri, one of the witnesses in the case currently living in Devgadh Baria town, told reporters, according to PTI.
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"I am happy that the SC has quashed the Gujarat government's decision and asked the convicts to surrender. I feel that we have received justice today," he added.
Some distant relatives of Bano who are settled in Dahod district's Devgadh Baria also burst firecrackers to welcome the decision.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horrors of the communal riots following the train burning incident in Godhara in 2002. Seven members of her family including her three-year old daughter were killed in the riots.