Remission for Bilkis Bano Case Convicts: In Praise of Terror?
By ALBERTINA ALMEIDA
The news of the remission of life sentence and consequent release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, sent shock waves down many a person’s spine. How could people, who had gang raped multiple times, committed multiple murders, and killed Bilkis’ three-year-old child in front of her eyes, be released? Worse still, how could they be feted when they were released? What signals was that sending? Wasn’t it about some men enjoying impunity? Wasn’t it conveying that it is heroic to murder and rape persons of the minority communities? (more…)