After the Gujarat government released 11 convicts in the 2002 gang rape and murder case on August 15, Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and secretary to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Smita Sabharwal demanded justice for Bilkis Bano.
Smita Sabharwal took to social media and said that she read the news in disbelief. "As a woman and a civil servant, I sit in disbelief on reading the news on the Bilkis Bano case. We cannot snuff out her right to breathe free without fear again and call ourselves a free nation #JusticeForBilkisBano,” she wrote on Twitter along with a statement released by Bilkis Bano pleading with the Gujarat government to ensure her safety.
As a woman and a civil servant I sit in disbelief, on reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase.
— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) August 18, 2022
We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation. #JusticeForBilkisBano pic.twitter.com/NYL6YS59Gh
Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke the Gujarat government's decision to release the 11 convicts. “If you had really meant what you spoke about respecting women, I urge you to intervene and rescind the Gujarat government’s order,’’ he said.
Dear PM @narendramodi Ji,
— KTR (@KTRTRS) August 17, 2022
If you had really meant what you spoke about Respecting women, urge you to intervene & rescind the Gujarat Govt remission order releasing 11 Rapists
Sir, it is nauseating to put it mildly & against MHA order. Need you to show sagacity to the Nation
The 11 defendants who had received life terms in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gangrape case were all released from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai sentenced the 11 defendants to life in prison on January 21, 2008, for the gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family and 7 others. Their conviction was eventually upheld by the Bombay High Court.
One of the convicts requested an early release from prison after serving more than 15 years in prison in a petition to the Supreme Court.
According to its 1992 policy based on the date of his conviction, the Gujarat government was given a directive by the apex court to look into the possibility of reducing his sentence. The government immediately called a committee and issued a decree allowing the early release of all the convicts. The men who were convicted of raping 21-year old Bilkis, her mother, and killing her toddler daughter were welcomed outside the jail and later felicitated by the RSS.