By Aditi Raja / Indian Express
A week after the Gujarat government released 11 convicts serving life sentence in the Bilkis Bano case, several Muslim families from Randhikpur (Singwad) have started leaving their homes and have taken shelter in Rahi-mabad Relief Colony of Devgarh Baria taluka in Dahod district, where Bilkis has been living since 2017.
Bilkis was gang-raped in Randhikpur during the communal violence that followed the Godhra train-burning incident in 2002. She was 21 years old then and five months pregnant. Seven members of her family were killed by rioters.
Sultana, 24, who arrived at the colony with her mother and sister on Sunday said, “There is fear among the community since last week… There have been no direct threats but the welcome they received and the sense of jubilation in the village… We grew anxious and left as we did not feel safe there. It was different when they came out on parole as we knew they were ultimately prisoners but now they have been released.”
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