Post-Godhra riots in Gujarat: 9 get life term for Ode riots case

Anand (Gujarat, India), May 4 (PTI) Nine persons were sentenced to life imprisonment today and 30 acquitted by a special court for the killing of three members of a Muslim family in Ode village who were burnt alive during the 2002 post-Godhra riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The nine accused were convicted by special court judge R M Sarin on charges of murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy and awarded life imprisonment. The court also awarded six months imprisonment to another accused who has been convicted for voluntarily causing hurt to the victims. The court acquitted 17 people saying that they were not involved in the case while 13 others were given benefit of doubt. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 21,500 on each of the nine convicted for murder while Rs 500 on the one convicted for causing hurt. There were 41 accused in the case against whom the charges were framed on the complaint of Rehana Yusufbhai Vohra, a relative of the victims. One of the accused died during the trial. Ayesha Vohra, Nuriben Vohra and Kaderbhai Vohra were killed in Malva Bhagol area of Ode village on March 1, 2002 as part of state-wide repercussions of the February 27, 2002 Sabarmati Express train burning incident at Godhra in Gujarat in which 58 people who were returning after volunteer work in temple building at Ayodhya were killed. This is the second case of Ode village in which court has given its verdict. In the first case, another court had sentenced 18 people to life imprisonment while awarding seven years jail to five others, in connection with massacre of 23 persons in Ode village during the 2002 post-Godhra riots. The case was probed by the Supreme Court appointed special investigation team (SIT) headed by former CBI director R K Raghavan. Out of the nine cases probed by the SIT, judgements have been pronounced in two other cases also, including the Godhra train burning incident where 11 people were awarded death sentence and 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment. The second case was that of Sardarpura village in Mehsana district of the state where 31 persons were awarded life term and 42 others were acquitted. PTI