The 11 convicts for the rape of Bilkis Bano who were further freed by the Gujarat government after 15-years in jail, were Brahmins and had 'good sanskaar, according to BJP's sitting MLA from Godhra, reports ndtv.com.

CK Raulji's comments come amid the backlash following the release of the 11 men.

Raulji was one of the two saffron leaders part of the government committee that 'unanimously decided to release the rapists'.

"I don't know whether they committed any crime or not. But there has to be intention of committing crime," Raulji told a reporter.

"They were Brahmins and Brahmins are known to have good sanskaar. It might have been someone's ill intention to corner and punish them," added the MLA in the interview, which is circulating widely on social media. The convicts, he added, had good conduct while in jail.

The Gujarat government freed them under its remission policy on the Independence Day hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi championed the cause of women's empowerment from Red Fort ramparts.

A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment over the gang rape of Bilkis and the murder of seven members of her family. Bombay High Court later upheld the conviction.

One of the convicts, who have all spent more than 15 years in jail, had approached the Supreme Court with a plea for release.

The apex court directed the Gujarat government to look into possible remission of his sentence. Following this, the state government formed a committee, said Panchmahals collector Sujal Mayatra, who headed the panel.

“A committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of (the sentences of) all the 11 convicts. The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their release,” Mayatra said on Monday.

A mob had attacked Bilkis Bano’s family at Randhikpur village in Dahod district on March 3, 2002.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped. While seven members of her family were killed, six others managed to run away, the court was told. The accused were arrested in 2004.

The trial began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed fears that witnesses could be harmed and the evidence collected by the CBI tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The 2008 convictions of 11 accused were upheld in 2018 by Bombay High Court.