Protests erupt over freed rapists in India

NEW DELHI — Hundreds of people on Saturday held demonstrations in several parts of India to protest a recent government decision to free 11 men who had been jailed for life for gangraping a Muslim woman during India’s devastating 2002 religious riots.

The protesters in the country’s capital, New Delhi, chanted slogans and demanded the government in the western state of Gujarat rescind the decision. They also sang songs in solidarity with the victim.

Similar protests were held in several other states.

The 11 men, released on suspended sentences on Aug. 15 when India celebrated 75 years of independence, were convicted in 2008 of rape, murder and unlawful assembly.

The victim, who is now in her 40s, recently said the decision by the Gujarat state government has left her numb and shaken her faith in justice.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify victims of sexual assault.

The victim was pregnant when she was gang-raped in communal violence in 2002 in Gujarat, which saw more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, killed in some of the worst religious riots India has experienced since its independence from Britain in 1947. Seven members of the woman’s family, including her 3-year-old daughter, were killed in the violence.

“The whole country should demand an answer directly from the prime minister,” said Kavita Krishnan, a prominent activist.

Officials in Gujarat, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party holds power, have said that the convicts’ application was granted because they had served more than 14 years in jail. The men were eligible under a 1992 policy that was in effect at the time of their conviction, officials said. A newer version adopted in 2014 by the federal government prohibits release for those convicted of certain crimes, including rape and murder.

The riots have long hounded Modi, who was Gujarat’s top elected official at the time, amid allegations that authorities allowed and even encouraged the bloodshed.

Modi has repeatedly denied having any role, and the Supreme Court has said it found no evidence to prosecute him.