West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday described the Supreme Court's order as "strong and bold" after it quashed the remission to 11 men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 riots.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022.

"I am grateful to SC for taking this strong and bold judgement. It proves that the rapists were moving freely and enjoying power," she said at Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

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