Gujarat riots rapists freed on ‘remission’
ANGER AS VICTIM’S HUSBAND HEARS RELEASE NEWS ‘FROM MEDIA REPORTS’
ELEVEN Hindu men jailed for life for the gang-rape of a pregnant Muslim woman during riots in 2002 have been freed on remission, officials said on Tuesday (16), drawing condemnation from the victim’s husband, lawyers and politicians.
The men were convicted in early 2008 and released from jail in Panchmahals in Gujarat on Monday (15), when India celebrated 75 years since the end of British rule.
Panchmahals’ top bureaucrat said the district jail advisory committee had recommended the release after considering the time the 11 had spent in jail and their good behaviour.
“They had spent close to 15 years in jail and were eligible for remission,” Sujal Jayantibhai Mayatra said.
India’s legal system allow convicts to seek remission after 14 years in jail, officials said.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang-rape and murder of seven members of the woman’s family.
Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay high court.
The husband of the victim said they were disappointed because the riots had also killed many family members.
“We have lost our family and want to live in peace, but suddenly this has happened,” Yakub Rasul said. “We had no prior information about their release, either from the courts or the government. We only learnt about it from the media.”
He said the Gujarat state government paid the family compensation of `5 million (£52,128) as directed by the Supreme Court.
“But the government has not yet made any arrangements for a job or house as directed by the Supreme Court,” he said.
The family continued to live “virtually in hiding” without a fixed address, Rasul added.
“We can’t yet talk about where we live. It is quite difficult for us to do so.”
The compensation money paid for the education of his sons, he said.
Violence in the state, one of India’s worst religious riots, led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people.
At the time, Gujarat was led by current Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as chief minister, and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains in power in the state.
Riots broke out in Gujarat following the burning of a Sabarmati Express coach in Godhra that killed 59 people on February 27, 2002.
The Indian government informed parliament in May 2005 that 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed in the post-Godhra riots.