Hundreds of people have held demonstrations in several parts of India to protest against a recent government decision to free 11 men who had been jailed for life for gang raping a Muslim woman during India’s 2002 religious riots.
The protesters in the country’s capital, New Delhi, chanted slogans on Saturday and demanded the government in the western state of Gujarat rescind the decision. They also sang songs in solidarity with the victim.
Women in New Delhi protesting against the Gujarat government’s decision to release the 11 convicted men
Muslim woman raped by Hindu mob shocked by release of 11 jailed men
Similar protests were also held in several other states.
The eleven guys, launched on suspended sentences on 15 August, whilst India celebrated seventy five years of independence, had been convicted in 2008 of rape, homicide and illegal assembly.
The sufferer, now in her 40s, lately stated the choice with the aid of using the Gujarat country authorities had left her numb and shaken her religion in justice.
The sufferer turned into pregnant while she changed into gang raped for the duration of communal violence in 2002 in Gujarat, which noticed over 1,000 humans, in the main Muslims, killed in a number of the worst spiritual riots India has skilled because its 1947 independence from Britain.
Seven participants of the female’s family, which include her three-year-antique daughter, have been additionally killed withinside the violence.
“The entire usa ought to call for a solution immediately from the high minister of this united states of america,” stated Kavita Krishnan, a outstanding activist.
Officials in Gujarat, wherein the Bharatiya Janata birthday birthday celebration of the top minister, Narendra Modi, holds power, have stated the convicts’ software for remission turned into granted due to the fact that they’d finished extra than 14 years in jail. The guys have been eligible beneathneath a 1992 remission coverage that turned into in impact on the time in their conviction, officers stated.
A more recent model of the coverage followed in 2014 through the federal authorities prohibits remission launch for the ones convicted of sure crimes, along with rape and homicide.
The riots have lengthy hounded Modi, who turned into Gujarat’s pinnacle elected professional on the time, amid allegations that government allowed or even endorsed the bloodshed. Modi has time and again denied having any position and the best courtroom docket has stated it discovered no proof to prosecute him.
Asiya Qureshi, a younger protester in New Delhi, stated she participated withinside the demonstrations to are seeking justice for the sufferer.
“Modi gave a speech on fifteenth August at the protection and safety of ladies of India and the identical day they launched the rapists,” she stated. “How am I secure in this type of climate?”
