Bilkis Bano Case Convict Shares Stage With BJP MP And MLA At Government Event

Dahod
One of the convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder of her family members case, freed last year under Gujarat’s remission policy, has shared the stage with BJP MP Jaswant Bhabhor and his MLA brother Shailesh Bhabhor at a government event held at Limkheda in Dahod district of the state. When contacted and asked whether he attended the program on Saturday, the convict, Shailesh Bhatt, said he went there for puja ritual but refused to elaborate.
Bhatt was seen in a photo shared by Shailesh Bhabhor on his Twitter account, with a caption announcing the foundation laying programme for the Kadana dam bulk pipeline project worth approximately Rs 101.89 crore. The case dates back to 2002 when the communal violence erupted in Gujarat following the burning of a Sabarmati Express coach that killed 59 karsevaks on February 27 that year.
Bilkis Bano, who was five-month pregnant at that time and 21 years old, had fled her village with her toddler daughter and 15 others. On March 3, they took shelter in a field when a mob of 20-30 people armed with sickles, swords and sticks attacked them. Bilkis Bano was gang raped and seven members of her family were killed.