Bilkis Bano case: Protests in India over release of gang rapists

Protests were held all over India against to the Indian government's decision to release 11 men who were serving life sentences for the gang rape of a Muslim woman, Bilkis Bano.

The men were freed after serving 15 years in prison, reports BBC.

In 2002, a total of 14 members of Bilkis' family were also killed during the religious riots in Gujarat.

Men and women chanted slogans pleading with the government to reverse the decision of releasing the rapists.

Indian film star and women's rights activist Shabana Azmi told AFP news agency: "What happened with Bilkis Bano, what happened to her family, we cannot stand and watch this happen to our country. That is why we will all come together and raise our voices."

"This misogyny and patriarchy has grown so much and has been normalised to the point that, now rape is normal for people," said Aditi, a student protester.

In a separate letter to India's chief justice, more than 100 retired civil servants warned that the release of the rapists would jeopardise the safety of all women.

The Gujarat government announced its decision to release the convicts on 15 August as India commemorated its 75th anniversary of independence.

In a video that has since gone viral, the freed convicts were seen lined up outside the Godhra jail as family offered them sweets and touched their feet in respect. 

Ms Bano called the decision to free the men "unjust" and said it had "shaken" her faith in justice.

On 21 January 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai had sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang-rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. The Bombay High Court had late their conviction.

Bano was 21 years old and five-months pregnant when she was sexually assaulted in Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad on 3 March 2002, while fleeing the violence that broke out in the aftermath of the Sabarmati train incident in Godhra. Her three children were also killed during the anti-Muslim riots.

The US Commission of International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemned the "unjustified" early release of 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano case. Calling the early release of the convicts a "travesty of justice", USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said it was part of a "pattern of impunity" for those involved in the violence against religious minorities.