By Matters India reporter
Panaji, August 26, 2022: Church groups joined civil society organizations in Goa to express solidarity with the victims of sexual assault such as Bilkis Bano of Gujarat.
The August 24 meeting in Panaji, the state capital, condemned the premature release of rapists and murderers of the 2002 Gujarat riots and felicitation given to them.
Bilkis Bano was gangraped in Gujarat’s Randhikpur village and seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, were killed on March 3, 2002, in the Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning. She was 21 and five months pregnant at the time.
A special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced 11 accused in the case to life imprisonment on charges of gangrape and murder. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
However, on Independence Day this year, August 15, the Gujarat government released them from jail after a government-appointed panel approved their application for remission of the sentence.
On August 25, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Gujarat and federal government on grant of remission of sentence to the 11.
The groups in Goa say the release of the 11 and similar acts have caused insecurity in communities especially among witnesses, activists and people in the system who worked to get justice, says a press release from the groups.
The release has set a bad precedent and demoralized victim-survivors, their families, activists and public who are seeking justice through the legal system, it bemoans.
The Panaji meeting decided to launch a post card campaign at 3:30 pm on August 28 at Azad Maidan (freedom ground) in Panaji, said Sabina Martins, an activist on behalf for the Citizens in Solidarity with Bilkis Bano and victims of sexual assault.
A petition from the people of Goa will also be signed at Azad Maidan demanding protection of victims and witnesses, and revoking remission of sentence of the 11 convicts of rape and multiple murder.
Citizens in Solidarity comprises of 15 organizations of women, professionals and social activists, besides concerned individuals: Women Desk of Goa archdiocese, Justice Coalition of religious of Goa, Canossa Samajik Kendra, Presentation Society, The Goa Muslim Women’s Organization, Architects group of Goa are among them.
The collective has appealed to women centers, women cells, sexual harassment prevention committees, self-help groups, organizations and public at large to come to Azad Maidan to sign, express solidarity, attend the public press meet and support the demand to protect victims, witnesses, those providing assistance.
The meeting requested the authorities to send rapists cum murderers back to jail, uphold the dignity and rights of women, and uphold human rights.
After the Godhra carnage, Bilkis Bano and family had fled their village fearing violence.
They took refuge in the Chhaparvad district. On March 3, a gang of 30 people armed with sickles, swords, and sticks attacked the family. The 11 were among the attackers.
Bilkis Bano, her mother, and three other women were raped and assaulted. Among the family members, only Bilkis Bano, a man, and a three-year-old survived the attack.
According to reports, Bilkis Bano regained consciousness three hours after the incident and after borrowing clothes from an Adivasi woman made her way to the Limkheda police station to register a complaint with the help of a home guard.
Bilkis was taken to a public hospital for medical examination. Her case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court, which ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation.