Bilkis Bano challenges release of her rapists in Supreme Court

The convicts were released on Aug 15 as per the Gujarat government's order under a past remission policy.

The 11 men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano during a communal clash in 2002 were released as they had been in jail for 14 years and their behaviour was found to be good, the Gujarat Government told the Supreme Court.

The release of the convicts has triggered a political firestorm with the Opposition slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules Gujarat, and its supreme leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had stressed women's issues in his customary Independence Day speech.

A group linked to the BJP was also seen garlanding the convicts when they walked out of the jail.

A BJP MLA added fuel to the row saying the convicts were "Brahmins" with "good sanskar".

The controversy reached its peak after Justice UD Salvi, who had convicted the 11 men and sentenced them to a life term in jail by a special court in Mumbai, also raised questions on the release.

Bilkis Bano, who was five-month pregnant in 2002, was gang-raped while fleeing the violence which broke out during the Godhra train carnage.

Days after the release, the survivor had said the state government's order had shaken her belief in the justice system.