Court acquits all 26 accused in 2002 gangrape and murder case

An FIR was lodged against the accused at Kalol police station on March 2 that year.

Gujarat local court, gangrape and murder accused, minority community, 2002 communal riots, Gujarat riots, Godhra incidents, indian express

Of the total 39 accused, 13 died during the pendency of the case and the trial against them was abated. (Express Photo)

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A court in Gujarat has acquitted all 26 persons accused of gangrape and murder of more than a dozen members of a minority community in separate incidents in Kalol during 2002 communal riots for want of evidence in the 20-year-old case.

Of the total 39 accused, 13 died during the pendency of the case and the trial against them was abated.

A court of additional sessions judge of Halol in Panchmahal district, Leelabhai Chudasama, on Friday acquitted 26 persons for the offence of murder, gangrape and rioting for want of evidence. “As many as 13 out of a total 39 accused in the case had died during the pendency of the trial,” the court said in the order passed on Friday.

The accused were part of a mob that went on a rampage in the communal riots that broke out on March 1, 2002, during a bandh call given after the Sabarmati train burning incident in Godhra on February 27.

An FIR was lodged against the accused at Kalol police station on March 2 that year.

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