Khushbu raps remission of 11 in Bilkis Bano gangrape case

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Over a week after 11 convicts serving life sentence in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case in Gujarat walked free following remission of their sentence, the first murmurs of disapproval from within the ruling BJP are becoming audible.

While Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday restricted his criticism to felicitating the accused upon their release, actorpolitician Khushbu Sundar on Wednesday went full blast against the remission.

In a tweet, she wrote, “A woman who is raped, assaulted, brutalised and her soul scarred for life must get justice. No man who has been involved in it should go free. If he does so, it’s an insult to humankind and womanhood.” She added that Bilkis or any other woman should be supported beyond politics and ideologies. As for Fadnavis, he said,

“The convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case of Gujarat were released following a Supreme Court order. But it was wrong if a person accused of a crime is felicitated and there can be no justification for such an act.” While Khushbu is a member of the BJP’s national executive committee, the party has not taken any official position on it yet. Bilkis Bano, who was pregnant, was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. Seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, were murdered.