The 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002, who are currently out on remission, are not missing as claimed by some media reports. They are under police watch and have voluntarily surrendered to the authorities, according to a senior Gujarat Police officer.
Police Watch and Surrender:
Assistant Superintendent of Police, Limkheda division, Bishakha Jain confirmed that the convicts are under police watch and have surrendered to the authorities. They knew that they had to surrender and voluntarily came to the police station after the Supreme Court order on January 8.
Supreme Court Verdict:
On January 8, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court scrapped the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the case and directed them to surrender in two weeks. The bench said Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra to grant remission and nullified a 2022 judgment by another bench of the top court.
Media Reports:
Some media reports had claimed that most of the convicts were missing and that their families were unaware of their whereabouts. However, Jain refuted the claims and said that the convicts knew that they had to surrender and that they voluntarily came to the police station after the Supreme Court order on January 8.
Supreme Court Rejection:
Earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected the applications by the 11 convicts in the case seeking more time to surrender. The bench said that the court already gave them two weeks to surrender and that the reasons cited by the applicants for postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit.
The 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002, who are currently out on remission, are not missing as claimed by some media reports. They are under police watch and have voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. The Supreme Court has rejected their applications seeking more time to surrender, citing that the court had already given them two weeks to surrender.
