India court overrules early release of 11 men in Bilkis Bano gang rape case

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Bano, now in her forties, was five months pregnant when she was brutally gang-raped during the 2002 anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat state.

India’s Supreme Court has quashed the remission given to 11 Hindu men who had been jailed for life for the gang rape of a pregnant woman and murdering her relatives during anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

Bilkis Bano, now in her forties, was five months pregnant when she was brutally gang-raped during the violence, which saw nearly 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, killed in some of the worst religious riots India has experienced.

Seven of her relatives, including her three-year old daughter, were killed in the riots.

The top court on Monday said the 11 convicted men who were released early must return to jail.

“Their plea for protection of their liberty is rejected,” the court said.

More to come…