Dahod: Randhikpur village in Gujarat shuffles instinctively between celebration and fear. For its 60-odd Muslim families, the Bilkis Bano case is a constant serving of fear. Their leaving and returning coincide with the ebbs and flows of the case. Last week, after the Supreme Court sent the 11 rapists back to prison, the families left the village once again. They have returned now, but the stay will be short. Their next departure is timed with the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 22 January.
“Hamein darr lagta hai (We are scared). So we always leave for Devgarh Baria whenever there’s any news or festivals. Men go too, but mostly children and women stay there for 2-3 days and then return. It was the same after the Supreme Court verdict,” said a relative of Bilkis Bano, who returned with his family on Friday.
On 8 January, the Supreme Court overturned its August 2022 order that allowed the Gujarat government to act favourably on the rapists’ remission petition, setting them free after serving 15 years in jail.
But the celebratory mood from 16 months ago, when the 11 rapists were released and welcomed with garlands and sweets, has turned somber with the Supreme Court ordering them to return to prison within two weeks. At the same time, the verdict has brought the fear of reprisal back into the cramped bylanes of Randhikpur, a nondescript village in Gujarat’s Dahod district that is difficult to reach in the absence of any road signs. The Muslim families left Randhikpur for their ‘safe zone’—Rahi-Mahad Relief Colony in Devgarh Baria town, an hour away from the village—and returned a few days later.
“We will go back before 22 January, probably around the 17th or 18th. There’s going to be that big event that day, right?” another relative said, referring to the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally, the court’s two-week notice period for the convicts ends on 22 January.
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Missing or waiting?
Randhikpur village, also known as Singvad, where the 11 convicts and their families live, had returned to a normal routine until the Supreme Court changed it all. Enjoying a “regular life” since the remission, at least nine of the 11 convicts have reportedly gone ‘missing’. Mediapersons have arrived enquiring about the whereabouts of the convicts.
Some neighbours have countered the claims of the convicts’ families that the men had left weeks or months ago. Several shopkeepers in the area claimed to have seen the convicts until 7 January, a day before the court verdict, with at least one villager reportedly saying, “You won’t find them now. All of them locked their houses and left.”
The police, however, have dismissed these claims. An officer denied media reports that the convicts are untraceable.
“No one is missing. The convicts must have received some court notice. We have not received any official letter. Our duty is to maintain peace, which we are doing,” said the officer who didn’t want to be named.
But no one in either village could confirm seeing any convict in the last two days.
Like the convicts’ families, officers at Randhikpur police station say they are waiting for the 11 men to turn up on their own.
“They have already undergone so much. Why would they want more trouble for themselves by not reporting once the period is over?” another police officer said.
Dhalod SP Rajdeep Zala didn’t respond to ThePrint’s calls and messages.
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A routine life for families
Families of convicts Radheshyam Shah and Rajubhai Soni are busy attending to customers at their respective shops. They have dealt with media persons before, and are resigned to any questions about the men’s whereabouts.
Shah’s shop, Bhagwan Das Kangan Store, located a few meters away from the temple square, is adorned with kite spools wrapped in pink fibre where Shah’s sister-in-law sells bangles, everyday items, and groceries.
“He is not here; he has gone out,” she responds curtly when asked about Shah. “They have done nothing wrong for us to keep our business closed,” she added.
At Soni’s shop, located on the ground floor of their single-storey building, the convict’s son is attending to an old lady who wants to sell her golden earrings. His grandmother, sitting nearby, hasn’t been informed about the court verdict.
“The verdict was a shock. For now, my father [Soni] is wrapping up his social duties. He is in deep introspection on what to do next,” the son said.
He specifies that there were still 10 days left before his father has to report back to prison. The family is consulting with their lawyers.
“Look around, talk to people, see what they have to say. We are all people from good communities,” he said, asserting that they have been wronged.
Their neighbours attest to their innocence. A shopkeeper next to Shah’s shop echoed similar sentiments.
“When the incident happened, there was so much chaos. How can one really say they are the ones who were the actual culprits?” he asked, refusing to give his name.
Shah and Soni’s lawyer Rishi Malhotra said his clients will surrender before the two-week period expires. As the legal battle continues, Malhotra said he is planning to file a writ petition in the Supreme Court.
ThePrint reached out to Bilkis Bano’s lawyer Shobha Gupta but couldn’t get a response.
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Minimum interaction
It’s a starkly different scene in Chundari road, the lane just ahead of the temple square that houses Muslim families. A few of Bilkis Bano’s relatives still reside here.
While the town square is lively, with roads filled with people and traffic, there is a veil of silence on the case. Shopkeepers are tight-lipped about the convicts.
The Muslim community here keeps a distance from their Hindu neighbours and flee at the slightest hint of fear. Communication with anyone outside the village is refrained. The only time they warm up to someone new is when acquaintances in Devgarh Baria town introduce the two parties.
The entry points to the Muslim locality are convoluted. Shelters for goats and buffaloes and tall stacks of dry sticks and hay are lined before the row of houses begin. Most of the 50 Muslim households in the area and 10 others near convict Soni’s house are relatively poorer than their Hindu counterparts.
“We mostly do daily labour. For that we interact with the Hindus but otherwise we keep to ourselves. We don’t buy from their shops; we have our people who sell (goods to us),” said a Muslim resident in his 20s.
(Edited by Prashant)
The “Gujarat model” at work. Voluntary segregation. Disunity in diversity.