By IANS
Mumbai : A Mumbai court Monday awarded life sentences to 11 people convicted for raping Bilkis Bano and killing 14 of her family members, one of the most gruesome incidents of communal violence in Gujarat five years ago.
Additional Sessions Judge U.D. Salvi pronounced the sentences to 11 of the convicts under charges of gang rape and mass murder of 14 people.
The sentenced were: Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radheshyam Shah, Bipinchandra Joshi, Kesherbhai Vohania, Pradip Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.
“The death sentence has not been awarded to the convicts since it is not a rarest of the rare case. Before inflicting the death sentence, the circumstances of the offender and the crime need to be considered,” Judge Salvi told IANS shortly after the pronouncing the verdict.
Police assistant sub-inspector Somabhai Gori, who was convicted for not lodging the complaint against the other accused, was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs.3,000.
Gori, however, urged the court to reduce his punishment, considering he had already spent four years in prison as an under-trial.
Advocate S.K. Shah, appearing for Gori, told IANS, “As he has already spent four years in prison, he will be released as soon as he pays the fine amount.”
The court Friday convicted 12 of the 20 accused. Those acquitted include police officers Narpatsingh Ranchodbhai, Idris Abdul Siayed, Bhikhbhai Patela and B.S. Bhagoria, and two doctors Arunkumar Prasad and Sangeeta Prasad.
During communal clashes in March 2002, Bilkis Bano witnessed 14 members of her family being massacred by a violent mob, when they were trying to escape from their riot-struck village Randhikpur, 250 km from Ahmedabad.
Six months pregnant at the time, Bilkis Bano survived the slaughter, but not before being subjected to gang rape by a savage mob.
The trial in this case had begun in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis Bano expressed fears that witnesses could be harmed and the evidence tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.