India

Muslim residents of Bilkis Bano’s village leave area over fears of safety after release of convicted rapists

A screen grab of the video shows the eleven convicts being felicitated, as Hindu men touch their feet, offer sweets, and conducted a tilak ceremony in Gujarat.

Gujarat: Around two weeks after convicted rapists of Bilkis Banoo were released by the government of Gujarat, fear has gripped among the other Muslim community members in Randhikpur village of Gujarat district.

Quoting one of the residents of Randhikpur village in Dahod district in Gujarat, Shahrukh Sheikh, a report by news agency PTI said that villagers have appealed to the district collector to provide safety to the villagers. Police have increased deployment in the village and have admitted that some people have moved out but has denied any exodus.

“We are scared. Several people have left the village out of fear of violence from the side of the convicts after their release. We have appealed to the collector to put the convicts behind bars and provide safety to the villagers,” Sheikh was quoted as saying by PTI.

He further said that 70 Muslim families are living in fear while many others have moved out and started staying with their relatives and well-wishers in other areas.

In the memorandum handed over to the Dahod district collector on Monday, villagers spoke about fear saying many residents of Randhikpur are moving out while discontinuing their daily job. Villagers said they were leaving because they fear for their safety, especially of women. They will not return until the 11 convicts are arrested, the memorandum said.

The report quoting police said the convicts are not present in the area but admitted that some villagers have left.

“We have deployed police personnel at fixed points after talking to local people and intensified patrolling after the villagers expressed concern over their safety,” the report quoted, Deputy Superintendent of Police RB Devdha, as saying.

Bano was gangraped during the 2002 Gujarat riots and seven members of her family were murdered. Eleven people were convicted by a Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in 2008 and were sentenced to life. Acting on a plea of one of the convicts, the Supreme Court earlier this year directed the Gujarat government to consider the remission of their sentences, following which the government formed a panel that unanimously recommended their release.

The Gujarat government ordered their release and the convicts walked free on August 15. They belong to a village near Randhikpur.

 

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