SC asks Gujarat govt to decide on reducing sentence of accused in Bilkis Bano 2002 gang rape case
India TodayThe Supreme Court on Sunday directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of sentence of an accused in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The bench added that this was also the reason for which the High Court of Bombay in Criminal Writ Petition filed at the instance of co- accused Ramesh Rupabhai under its order dated August 5, 2013 declined his request to consider the application for premature release and left the application to be examined according to the policy applicable in the State of Gujarat by the concerned authorities. The bench further said, "Once the crime was committed in the state of Gujarat, after the trial has been concluded and judgment of conviction came to be passed, all further proceedings have to be considered including remission or premature release, as the case may be, in terms of the policy which is applicable in the State of Gujarat where the crime was committed and not the State where the trial stands transferred and concluded for exceptional reasons under the orders of this Court." Bilkis Bano 2002 gang-rape case Bano was 19-years-old and 5 months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots in Randhikpur village near Dahod on March 3.