Team Herald
PANJIM: Women organisations and concerned individuals on Thursday condemned the premature release of 11 rapists-cum-murderers of the Gujarat riots and the felicitation of convicts upon their release.
During a meeting held at Panjim to express solidarity with Bilkis Bano and other victims of sexual assault, the participants said that the act of the Gujarat government to release 11 convicts undergoing life sentences for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots has caused insecurity in the communities, especially those who stood witnesses, activists and people in the system, who worked to get justice.
Such an act has set a bad precedent and has demoralised victim-survivors, their families, activists and the public who are seeking justice through the legal system, they said.
The meeting decided to launch a postcard campaign to the authorities on Sunday, August 28.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Bailancho Saad, Bailancho Ekvott, The Goa Muslim Women’s Association, Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP), Women’s India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WICCI), Architects Group, Saad Aangan, ARZ, Justice Coalition of Religious of Goa Domestic Workers Welfare Union, Goa Network on Gender Justice, Women Desk of Goa Diocese, Cannossa Samajik Vikas Kendra, Presentation Society, Saad Alashiro among others.
