During the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant, fled her home in Randhikpur village in an attempt to escape the violence sweeping the region.
Her case gained national and international attention, highlighting the systemic failures in addressing crimes against women during communal violence and the enduring struggle for accountability and justice in India.
After police dismissed the case against her assailants, Mrs. Bilkis Bano approached the National Human Rights Commission of India and petitioned the Supreme Court seeking a reinvestigation.
[6] The Bombay High Court upheld the life imprisonment of the eleven men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots on 8 May 2017.
The court also set aside the acquittal of the remaining seven accused in the case, including Gujarat police officers and doctors of a government hospital, who were charged with suppressing and tampering with evidence.
[9] On 15 August 2022, the eleven men sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case were released from a Godhra jail by the Gujarat government.
[17] On 18 August 2022, around 6,000 signatories, including activists, eminent writers, historians, filmmakers, journalists and former bureaucrats, urged the Supreme Court to revoke the early release of the rapists,[18] while the Opposition parties criticised the BJP.