11 Convicted Of Gang-Raping Pregnant Woman Walk Free; Greeted With Garlands Outside Jail [Video]

An Indian court has pardoned 11 men who were convicted of gang-raping a pregnant woman and perpetrating the murder of seven members of her family, including her 3-year-old daughter, back in 2002.

The case is once again making headlines since the release of the 11 convicts. A heroes' welcome awaited the men as they walked out of prison Monday.

The men were convicted in 2008 and were serving life sentences for gang-raping Bilkis Bano, a then-21-year-old Muslim woman, during the deadly communal riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat in 2002. Bano was five months pregnant at the time, Reuters reported.

A video, which went viral on social media, showed relatives of the convicts giving them sweets and touching their feet as a show of respect.

In 2002, there was a pogrom against Muslims after a train carrying 59 Hindu pilgrims caught fire and killed all on board. In retaliation, nearly 2,000 people, the majority of them Muslims, were mutilated, shot and burned to death in the western Indian state. On March 3, amid the unrest, the family of Bano had sought refuge in a field when a group of 20–30 people attacked them, brandishing sickles, swords and sticks. Among the horrors of the riots, the gang-rape of Bano touched upon a sensitive nerve among the minority Muslim community in India.

Bano was lost for words Monday night as she struggled to accept that her rapists were released.

"The battle we fought for so many years has been wrapped up in one moment. A sentence of life imprisonment given by the court has been curtailed in such a manner... We had never even heard of the word 'remission'. We didn't even know that such a process exists," Yakub Rasool, her husband, told The Indian Express.

"How can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice," Bano said in a statement.

"No one enquired about my safety and well-being, before taking such a big and unjust decision... Give me back my right to live without fear and in peace. Please ensure that my family and I are kept safe," she said, urging the Gujarat government to reverse its decision.

The decision to release the convicts have drawn condemnation from all sections of people, including activists and politicians.

"You do not have to be a woman, You do not have to be a Muslim, You do not have to be a critic of the government to be outraged at the acquittal of those who gangraped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members," tweeted Rana Ayyub, a prominent Indian journalist and activist.

"It is official now. At least one State, one party & one organization loves rapists!" lawyer Prashant Bhushan said.

"My faith in justice has shaken," journalist Alishan Jafri wrote.

"The #rapists walked free, garlanded, and offered sweets. This is justice," said a Twitter user.

Condemning the release of the 11 convicts, Asaduddin Owaisi, a lawmaker and leader of a regional Muslim party, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of "rewarding such people."

Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat when the riots broke out in 2002.

The Hindu nationalist BJP has been heavily criticized for the latest decision by opposition groups, activists and journalists alike. Since the BJP assumed power in 2014, attacks against the Muslim community have dramatically increased, a BBC report said.