9 Bilkis Bano rapists go missing from homes after Indian top court’s order
New Delhi: In what believed to have been hidden by the Gujarat government, nine of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case, ordered by the Indian Supreme Court this week to report to prison authorities in two weeks, have gone untraceable with their homes locked.
The apex court on Monday revoked the amnesty granted to them by the Gujarat government and all the convicts are mandated to return to prison.
Families of the 9 untraceable convicts claimed ignorance about their whereabouts. A visit to their native village in Gujarat’s Dahood by the media revealed locked doors and an air of uncertainty surrounding the fugitive convicts.
The police, in a statement, say that they have not yet received a copy of the Supreme Court’s verdict. The convicts are reportedly out of contact, and there is no information regarding their surrender.
Dahood Superintendent of Police Balaram Meena was quoted by media reports as saying that there is no concrete information about the whereabouts of the convicts.
Bilkis Bano, aged 21 and five months pregnant during the 2002 communal riots was subjected to gangrape. Tragically, her 3-year-old daughter and six other family members lost their lives during the anti-Muslim violence.
