The release of 11 rapists and murderers sentenced to life in prison has aroused great anger in India. The country’s government has decided to reward some prisoners on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, celebrated on Monday, 15th.
The video of the moment the band was released went viral on Indian social media. Those who line up in front of the Panchmahals Prison in the western state of Gujarat are given a candy before they leave. A man touches the foot of the oldest member of the gang, a sign of respect in this country.
Hours later, demonstrations multiplied on the Internet. “Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant when she was raped by her neighbors twenty years ago, has her three-year-old daughter taken from her and killed like seven members of her family. Today, 1.3 billion people are watching the rapists. At 75, India is a republic of injustice”, one internet user on Twitter .
The anger of the Indians is fulfilling the promises made by the government. In a televised speech on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “an end to the humiliation of women” and pledged to fight sexual assault. Hours later, eleven people sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of Muslim Bilkis Bano and the murder of 14 of his family were released from custody.
Bilkis Bano, who was 19 years old and five months pregnant at the time, survived the beatings, but her baby and three-year-old daughter were abducted and killed by the gang. The case took place in 2002 during a Hindu uprising in the state of Gujarat that killed more than a thousand people, mostly Muslims. At that time, Modi was one of the local ministers led by representatives of the ultranationalist Bharatiya Janata party until today.
Review of the decision
Opponents of the Indian prime minister are demanding that the state of Gujarat review its decision and re-arrest the gang members. “This is the new India: murderers and rapists have been released and activists have been arrested,” the country’s Communist Party said.
The state government says the group’s release had nothing to do with the national government’s promises to protect women. The Panchmahals’ arrest also showed that gang members could be released after nearly 15 years of detention and “good behavior”.
In recent years, the country’s justice has convicted dozens of people involved in the uprising, considered one of the worst religiously motivated in India. Recently, however, several defendants have been released despite protests from the public and opposition parties.
Bilkis Bano has become a symbol of the struggle of Indian women against widespread violence and sexual assault in the country. “He can’t believe his attackers were released. He cried a lot and spent hours in bewilderment,” his wife, Yakub Rasool, told local media. “We’re in shock and horror,” she said.
source: Noticias
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