Mumbai, January 21
A special court set up in Mumbai to hear the Bilkis Bano rape case today sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment for raping the woman during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in 2002.
The 12th person to be convicted in the case, policeman Somabhai Gori, has been found guilty of distorting the complaint filed by Bilkis Bano. He faces a maximum sentence of three years.
Additional sessions judge U.D. Salvi awarded life sentences to all men who were found guilty of rape relying on circumstantial evidence, statement of witnesses and other evidence.
The prosecution had pleaded for the death sentences to all those convicted. Rajendra Shirodkar, counsel for the convicted men, said they would appeal the judgement in the High Court.
In all, 13 persons were found guilty in the Bilkis Bano rape case. Fourteen other relatives of Bano were brutally murdered as well. One of the accused had died during the progress of the trial. The case was transferred to Maharashtra from Gujarat on orders of the Supreme Court in
mid-2004.
