A Gujarat court has acquitted 27 persons accused of murder and gang rape during the 2002 riots in the state, The Indian Express reported on Sunday.
The court passed the verdict in response to eight communal violence-related cases that were filed by the Kalol Police in Gandhinagar district. All the cases pertained to incidents that occurred on March 1, 2002.
In one of the incidents, violence had erupted in Kalol’s Ambika Society, where a group of 38 persons who were travelling from the Delol village in the Panchmahals district was attacked. According to the police, 11 persons were killed while 17 others, including an eight-year-old, escaped.
One woman said that she was gang-raped and her toes were cut off by the attackers.
A case was also registered for the murder of a man named Imran Ghodawala who was allegedly killed with a sword and then dragged by a mob into a mosque that was set on fire, reported The Indian Express.
The police had booked a total of 39 persons for the violence that took place on that day. Out of these, 12 persons died before the trial could be completed. One of those who died was RJ Patil, who was then a sub-inspector at the Kalol police station.
On March 31, Additional Sessions Judge LG Chudasma acquitted all the surviving 27 accused persons citing the lack of evidence, ANI reported.
The prosecution had produced 190 witness testimonies during the trial. However, the court said that the witnesses either turned hostile, did not support the prosecution’s case, or were unable to recall the relevant facts or identify the accused persons.
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