A Muslim woman who was gang-raped - during bloody communal clashes in 2002 in the western Indian state of Gujarat - expressed shock at the early release of the perpetrators.

Bilquis Bannon, who was pregnant at the time of the attack, lost 7 members of her family, including her 3-year-old daughter, after they were murdered by a Hindu gang in Gujarat in 2002.

On Monday, 11 people sentenced to life imprisonment were released, in connection with this incident, after spending 14 years behind bars.

Bannon said - in a statement issued by her lawyer - that she feels "speechless".

"I am still shocked, I trusted the highest judicial bodies in our country. I trusted the system, and I was slowly learning how to live with my trauma," she added.

"The release of these convicts robs me of my peace and shakes my faith in justice. My grief and wavering faith (in the judiciary) affects not only me, but any woman who fights for justice in the courts."

Earlier, Yaqoub Rasoul, the victim's husband, told Reuters that they were frustrated, knowing that the same family killed many of its members during the riots.

"We lost our family and we want to live in peace, but suddenly this happened.. We had no prior information about their release, either from the courts or the government, we only knew about this through the media," the husband said.

On Thursday in New Delhi, a small demonstration was organized to protest the release of these accused.

According to an official report, about a thousand people, mostly Muslims, were shot, beaten or burned in this riot, in 2002, which erupted after the killing of 59 Hindu pilgrims in a train fire that was falsely attributed to Muslims.

The current prime minister, Narendra Modi, who was then the governor of Gujarat, was accused of failing to hold those responsible to account, before he was acquitted in 2012.

The state - which is still ruled by Modi's Hindu nationalist party - chose to announce the release of Bannon's rapists to coincide with the country's celebrations of the 75th anniversary of its independence.

Senior state official Raj Kumar said in comments reported by the Hindustan Times that "11 convicts were considered after considering various factors, such as life imprisonment in India which is usually 14 years or more, the person's age, behavior, etc. ".

Opposition politicians and lawyers said the release went against the government's stated policy to "advance women" in a country notorious for its violence.

Opposition politician Rahul Gandhi, grandson of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, addressed Modi on Twitter, saying, "Mr. Prime Minister (...) the whole country sees the difference between your words and your actions."

Prominent Muslim politician Asaduddin Owaisi said, "The BJP's mono-religion bias is so great that even brutal rapes and hate crimes are tolerated."

In turn, lawyer Anand Yajnik said, "Reducing the sentence for those convicted of a horrific crime such as gang rape and murder is morally inappropriate."

"What signal are we trying to send?" he asked.

India has a population of 1.4 billion people, 80% of whom are Hindus, in addition to about 200 million Muslims.