Bilkis Bano case: All 11 convicts surrender at Godhra sub jail

All 11 individuals convicted in the Bilkis Bano case turned themselves in on Sunday night at the Godhra sub-jail in Gujarat's Panchmahal district, complying with the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

"All 11 convicts have surrendered before jail authorities late Sunday night," said local Crime Branch inspector NL Desai.

SC had on January 8 annulled the remission the Gujarat government granted to the 11 convicts in the high-profile case while slamming the State for being "complicit" with an accused and abusing its discretion. It ordered the convicts, who were released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, to go back to jail within two weeks.


The Supreme Court, a few days ago, dismissed the convicts' requests for an extension in surrender time and instructed them to comply by Sunday.

The 11 convicts are Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana and Shailesh Bhatt.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while trying to escape the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

(With PTI inputs)