Indian Court quashes remission in sentence of 11 men in muslim woman's gang-rape
India's Supreme Court has overturned the remission granted to 11 Hindu men convicted of the gang rape of a Muslim Woman and the murder of her relatives amid anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002.
In a recent ruling, the apex court instructed the 11 men, previously sentenced to life imprisonment, to surrender to Gujarat's prison authorities within a span of two weeks.
'Their plea for safeguarding their freedom is dismissed," the court stated. "Allowing them to remain at large would not align with the principles of the rule of law.'
During the violent episode in 2002, Bilkis Bano, presently in her forties, was subjected to a brutal gang rape while she was five months pregnant. These riots resulted in the deaths of nearly 2,000 individuals, predominantly Muslims, marking one of India's most severe religious unrests.
Among the 14 individuals murdered during a specific incident were seven of Bilkis Bano's relatives. Tragically, her three-year-old daughter fell victim to the violence, suffering a fatal head injury inflicted by the perpetrators in Gujarat's Dahod district.
At the time of the riots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi served as Gujarat's chief minister, and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to govern the state.
The 2002 riots have persistently haunted Modi, with accusations of purportedly instructing state authorities to permit the prolonged bloodshed.
Modi has consistently refuted any involvement in the violence, and the Supreme Court previously stated the absence of evidence to prosecute him in connection to the events.
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