Shabana Azmi Breaks Down As She Reacts To Release Of Bilkis Bano Gang Rape Convicts; 'I Am Ashamed'

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi recently broke into tears while talking with a news portal about the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. The actress said that she is deeply ashamed over the recent development and the society's silence in general in this case.

While expressing her horror over the release of the convicts, Shabana told NDTV, "I have no words (for Bilkis Bano) except that I am deeply ashamed. I have no other words. This woman has had such a huge tragedy. And yet she didn't lose courage. She fought all the way. She got these people convicted and, like her husband says, just when she's about to bring her life together, this great travesty of justice happens...Shouldn't we be shouting from the rooftops so that justice is done to this person? And the women who are feeling unsafe in this country, women who face the threat of rape every day - shouldn't they get some sense of security?"

Shabana said that after the convicts were released, she expected an 'outpouring of outrage', adding that she waited for two-three days but there was very little visibility in the media.

The actress continued, "They said, 'But what's the big deal? They have already served the sentence, ab kya shor machana (why create a fuss now)?' They weren't even fully cognizant of what had happened, they weren't even aware that these 11 convicts had been released. I was just stunned that this could happen. Even now I think there is not enough understanding of the injustice and horror of what has happened."

Shabana further condemned the release of the culprits of such a heinous crime and questioned the kind of message that's given to women and children when the convicts were felicitated and laddoos were distributed after their release from jail.

The actress told the portal that she was baffled that of all countries, this development happened in this country, where people took to the streets in the Nirbhaya case. She further added that she couldn't imagine the justification being offered about the convicts being "Brahmins" and "from good families".

For the unversed, Bilkis Bano was five months pregnant when she was gang raped and several members of her family including her three-year-old daughter were killed during the communal violence of 2002 Gujarat riots.

The 11 accused in this case were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008. However, the Gujarat Government released the convicts under the remission policy on August 15 after they served more than 15 years in prison.