- By Mayukh Debnath
- Mon, 22 Jan 2024 07:02 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bilkis Bano Convicts Surrender: All the convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case have surrendered at a jail in Gujarat within the deadline set by the Supreme Court, the police informed. The convicts surrendered at Gujarat's Godhra jail late on Sunday night, a police official said.
"All 11 convicts have surrendered before jail authorities late Sunday night," local Crime Branch inspector NL Desai was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. The SC had set January 21 as the deadline for the convicts to surrender before prison authorities. The convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment but released in August 2022 after serving 14 years of sentence. On January 8, the SC struck down the remission order. The convicts had later approached the apex court seeking an extension of time to surrender before jail authorities. The convicts' pleas were rejected by an SC bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday.
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While dismissing the applications, the bench had said that the reasons cited by the convicts to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail held no merit. "The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit in as much as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions. Hence, the miscellaneous applications are dismissed. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed," the bench had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
