A special court on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to 31 convicted in a 2002 post-Godhra riot case in which 33 people of minority community were burnt alive at Sardarpura village of district Mehsana in Gujarat, the Indian media reported.
Out of a total 73 accused in the case, the court acquitted 42 persons of whom 11 were freed due to lack of evidence while 31 given the benefit of doubt. While pronouncing the verdict, Principal District and Sessions judge SC Srivastva directed the 31 convicts to deposit Rs 50,000 each, which will be paid as a compensation to the family of the victims.
The convicts were also awarded imprisonment to the terms ranging from three months to 10 years under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). All the sentences will run concurrently. Additional fine of over Rs 20,000 each has also been imposed on all the convicts and if they fail to deposit the same, their punishment would be extended by up to six months.
“This is a historic success. Never before in the history of the trial of communal riots cases in India, these many people have been sentenced. It has not happened in Bhagalpur or even in Best Bakery case,” said RB Sreekumar, a former state DGP who is fighting for riot victims. This is the first post-Godhra riot case out of nine cases probed by the Supreme Court — appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on which the verdict has been pronounced.
YB Sheikh, one of the lawyers representing the victims, said they had suffered a great loss as they have lost their family members in the incident. Demanding compensation for the victims, he said the victims were not able to stay in their own houses as they still fear for their life.
