The attack occurred in 2002, amid the wave of religious violence that followed the Godhra train fire. Accusation: “They are released because they are Hindu nationalists while Bilkis Banu is a Muslim woman.” Hna. Meena Barwa to : “What kind of judicial system does our country have?”
Ahmedabad () – Protests are multiplying in India against the release in the state of Gujarat of 11 men who had been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of a Muslim woman, Bilkis Banu. The aggression occurred in March 2002, in the context of the wave of violence against Muslims that was unleashed after the burning of a train in Godhra that killed 58 Hindu pilgrims who were returning from Ayodhya, the sacred place that Hindus and Muslims dispute. Numerous Indian associations denounce that the gesture of mercy – in consideration of “good behavior” in prison – is related to the fact that the convicted are Hindu nationalists, while the victim is a Muslim woman. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent days to demand the intervention of the Supreme Court.
Released prisoners attacked Banu in a village near Ahmedabad on March 3, 2002, during riots that erupted when current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Gujarat’s head of government. At the time, the woman was 19 years old and pregnant. Fourteen other members of her family were also killed in the attack, including her three-year-old daughter, whose head was smashed into the ground by the assailants.
The Gujarat government approved the inmates’ request, and they were released from Godhra jail on 15 August. That day they were received with a treat by their relatives and received congratulations from a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), one of the largest Hindu nationalist organizations. The release was based on the recommendation of a commission formed by the Gujarat government. Of the ten members of the commission, five are members of the BJP, the Hindu nationalist party, and two of them are also MPs.
Sister Meena Barwa, the religious from Orissa who was herself raped during the escalation of religious violence in the Kandhamal district in 2008, told : “When I look at Bilkis Banu my eyes fill with tears, I feel the pain in my own heart. What kind of judicial system is there in our country? Fourteen years ago I was attacked and raped just because she was a Christian nun, I understand very well what this woman is going through. The trauma was almost unbearable, the judicial process of the first trial was a second trauma. I can’t hold back the tears. How much more can we suffer? I am filled with sadness, pain and disappointment.”
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