Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: 12 convicted, seven let off in Bilkis Bano rape case

12 convicted, seven let off in Bilkis Bano rape case
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editor on 18 January, 2008 06:51:00
 
MUMBAI: Twelve persons, including a police official, were convicted by a special
court here on Friday in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case related to the
post-Godhra communal violence in Gujarat.
Seven other accused were acquitted by the court. One accused died during the
course of the trial which was shifted to Mumbai from Gujarat.
The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on Monday.
Bilkis, who was six months pregnant, was gang-raped during the communal
violence that erupted in Gujarat after a coach of Sabarmati Express carrying
Ramsevaks from Ayodhya was set on fire on February 27, 2002.
Bilkis was also a prime witness to the murder and rape of members of her family
and community during the riots.
The trial was shifted from a court in Ahmedabad to Mumbai in August 2003 by the
Supreme Court after the Central Bureau of Investigation and Bilkis expressed
apprehensions that witctors were accused of fabricating evidence.