Hyderabad: Hitting out at the BJP government at the Centre, TRS working president and IT Minister KT Rama Rao said the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape and murder of her family in Gujarat, would have repercussions. He said these acts of omission, commission, and remission by the BJP government will not be forgotten. Taking a dig at the BJP, Rama Rao recalled that political parties would typically promise development, security, and welfare sops to win elections, but now they are releasing rapists and killers of pregnant women and children.
“Karma is a Boomerang. #BilkisBano (sic),” he tweeted. Earlier on Thursday the Minister had slammed the release of the 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for Bilkis Bano gang rape and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. “This is a blot on the collective conscience of our nation. What happened to Bilkis Bano today can happen to anyone of us tomorrow,” he tweeted, reacting to the convicts being welcomed with sweets and garlands.
In response to Rama Rao’s tweet on Bano, many netizens alleged the inaction of the Telangana government in the recent Jubilee Hills rape case, where the prime accused was the AIMIM MLA’s son. Terming them as ‘silly trolls’, he stated that the rapists were arrested swiftly and sent to jail.
“To the silly trolls who indulge in whataboutery & question what Telangana Govt did in a recent rape case in Hyderabad, the Rapists were arrested swiftly & sent to jail. After 45 days, the High Court granted them Bail. We will fight on till these rapists get punished as per law (sic),” he declared.
Stating that loopholes in Juvenile Justice Act, IPC, and CrPC have resulted in the rapists getting out on bail in the Jubilee Hills rape case, the Minister further said: “That’s the reason why I am demanding that these acts be amended so no Rapist gets a bail & when convicted remains in Jail till death. Life imprisonment in the truest sense (sic).”
In the Jubilee Hills rape case, a minor girl was allegedly gang raped by a group of youths including five minors aged below 18 years and a major after a non-alcoholic party at a local pub on May 28. In July, the fifth Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the juvenile accused.
The special court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) cases at Nampally Metropolitan courts granted bail to the prime accused Saduddin Malik in early August after 61 days in jail. Malik’s lawyer argued that he was entitled to bail as the police investigation was over and the charge sheet was filed as well.
