NEW DELHI: A discussion was held at the National Human Rights Commission here on Monday and the release of the 11 convicts in the 2002
Bilkis Bano
case figured in it, sources said.
NHRC chairperson Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra headed the discussion, they said.
However, there was no official version from the rights panel on the discussion.
The 11 convicts walked out of the
Godhra
sub-jail on Independence Day after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai had sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment on January 21, 2008 on charges of gangrape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay high court.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the violence that broke out after the Godhra train burning. Among those killed was her three-year-old daughter.
