An Indian court Thursday sentenced 18 people to life imprisonment for murder during sectarian riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002. Twenty-three Muslims were burnt to death in Ode village in Anand district after the rioters set fire to a building where they took shelter on March 1, 2002.
On Monday, a special court found 23 Hindus guilty of killing the Muslims. It had earlier acquitted another 23 people.
"The court has pronounced life sentences on 18 people who were charged with murder," said Ashwin Bhagat, a defence lawyer. Seven others found guilty of conspiracy to murder were given seven years in jail, Bhagat said. The lawyer said the verdict of the special court would be challenged in the Gujarat High Court.
On February 27, 2002 a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was allegedly attacked and set on fire by a Muslim mob in Gujarat's Godhra town, killing at least 59 passengers.
The attack sparked widespread sectarian violence during which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.
The Ode massacre is the third verdict in 10 key incidents during the riots being probed by an special investigation team set up in 2008 on a Supreme Court directive.
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