Bilkis Bano on Monday told the Supreme Court the premature release of the 11 convicts who had brutally gang-raped her and killed her entire family ought to be quashed.

Bilkis’s counsel Shobha Gupta submitted that the incident was so traumatic that even today Bilkis “is scared to face men, cannot be in crowds or around strangers. Has not recovered from the trauma. We thought this was over, but then (the remission) happened”.

“Bilkis was gang-raped multiple times while she was five months pregnant. Her first child was smashed on a stone to death. Her mother and a cousin were also gang-raped,” Gupta told a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan on Monday.

The 11 convicts had been sentenced to life for gang-raping Bilkis and killing seven members of her family during the 2002 riots. The Gujarat government released them on August 15 last year with the Centre’s concurrence.

Bilkis has challenged the remissions along with CPI leader Subhashini Ali, Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra and others, which is now being heard by the bench.

Responding to queries from the bench, Gupta said 14 persons were killed by the marauding gang and after due identification 11 were rightly convicted and sentenced to life by the sessions court, which was finally affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Gupta said the convicts smashed Bilkis’s child to the stone despite her pleas.

“The nature of the crime was so horrific and brutal that Bilkis was brutally gangraped while pregnant. The first child of Bilkis was smashed on a rock to death. The mother of Bilkis was gang-raped and murdered. A cousin was also gang-raped. Four of the petitioner’s minor brothers and sisters had been murdered.

“She (Bilkis) saw her first child being smashed on a rock. Kept pleading that she is like a sister to them. That’s why she knew all of them. Because she was from that locality. She knew these people,” Gupta told the bench in response to the latter’s queries on the identification of the convicts.

“They were bloodthirsty. They kept chasing Muslims. It was not a case where the incident had happened at the spur of the moment. Bodies were found all around. Heads were smashed,” Gupta said.

Justice Nagarathna, who headed the bench, asked whether there were any findings by the courts that the offence fell under the category of “rarest of rare” cases that deserved death penalty.

“Convicts who are found guilty of this crime. The way they have executed it... Are they deserving of the leniency shown to them? Apart from the arbitrary order, etc., do they deserve any leniency?” Gupta repeatedly asked.

Gupta however, pointed out that earlier a three-judge apex court bench while directing the award of compensation to the victims had said the case had shocked the conscience of the people and the crime was of uncommon nature.

When asked whether the directive for compensation had been complied with, the counsel answered saying “to an extent”, but did not elaborate.

Gupta pointed out that under Section 432 of the CrPC, the CBI had sought the opinion of a trial judge who convicted the accused. The judge gave a detailed opinion saying they were not entitled to any leniency or remission. Even the CBI said that they were not entitled to any leniency.

The arguments would continue on Tuesday.