Court acquits 27 accused of murder, gang rape during 2002 Gujarat riots

Panchmahal (Gujarat) [India], April 2 : A Gujarat court acquitted all 27 accused in gangrape and murder in Kalol during 2002 communal riots for want of evidence.
There were total 39 accused in the 20-year-old case, of which 12 died during the trial.
Separate cases were registered in connection with the widespread rioting in Kalol and surrounding areas, including massacre, gangrape and others.
In one of such significant case was the killing of 11 people in Kalol. According to the reports, 38 people of the minority community were fleeing Delol in the wake of the riots. The tempo they were traveling in overturned when the driver of the vehicle tried to turn around to avoid the mob that had set up barricades using barrels on the road.
The mob targeted the group and 11 of them were burnt alive while a woman was gang-raped.
A case was registered against a total of 48 people in this case. Gujarat Police had arrested 39 people. They were lodged in jails of Kalol, Halol and Godhra and were later granted bail. The trial was going on in the Halol Additional District and Sessions Court.
The sessions court in Halol in Panchmahal district acquitted all the 27 accused in the 20-year-old case due to lack of evidence.