All 11 convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case surrendered at a Gujarat jail as the Supreme Court deadline ended today.
The Supreme Court on January 8 asked the convicts, released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022, to surrender before jail authorities by January 21. On Friday, the court refused to grant them more time.
The convicts had cited reasons such as health issues, impending surgery, marriage in the family and harvest work and sought more time to surrender.
The apex court noted that the reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail "have no merit".
