All 11 life imprisonment convicts in Bilkis Bano gang rape case released under Gujarat government's remission policy

Godhra: All the eleven convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang rape case on Monday walked out of the Godhra sub-jail after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy, an official said.

A special CBI court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, sentenced the eleven accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

These convicts had served more than 15 years in jail after which one of them approached the Supreme Court with a plea for his premature release.

The apex court had directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence following which the government formed a committee, said Panchmahals Collector Sujal Mayatra, who headed the panel.

"A committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case. The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their release," said Mayatra.