The court in Panchmahal district said that the 190 witnesses examined in the case had either “turned hostile” or “not supported the prosecution’s case” or were “unable to recall facts or identify the accused”.
Panchmahals: A court in north Gujarat’s Panchmahal district has acquitted 27 accused of gang rape and murder of over 10 people during the 2002 Gujarat carnage citing lack of evidence.
There were a total of 39 accused in the case, but the remaining 12 had died during the trial period. Additional sessions judge L.G. Chudasma of the Halol court observed that the prosecution case is based on “mere suspicion without any evidence on record”, Indian Express reported.
Delivering its verdict recently, the sessions court held that the 190 witnesses examined in the case had either “turned hostile” or “not supported the prosecution’s case” or were “unable to recall facts or identify the accused” in relation to incidents that took place on March 1, 2022.
According to available media reports the court has not commented on the inadequacy of the state’s prosecution case neither has it held any police officer or any part of the investigation team responsible for the failure. Witnesses turning hostile is a frequent malaise in India’s criminal justice system. Under Section 164 of the CRPC empowers courts to direct that evidence of worth is collected even while the trial is on.
The prosecution’s case was that the accused, as part of a mob, went on a rampage during a bandh call given after the Sabarmati train burning incident in Godhra on February 27. A first information report (FIR) was lodged against the accused at Kalol police station on March 2, 2002. The accused were booked for rioting, unlawful assembly, rioting with armed weapons, murder, and causing the disappearance of evidence, among other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The prosecution also said that over 13 persons were killed when a mob of more than 2,000 people from “Hindu and Muslim communities” clashed with sharp weapons and inflammable objects in Kalol city in the Gandhinagar district. They damaged shops and set them on fire.
At the time, in a shocking incident, a man who was injured in police firing was burnt alive in a tempo he was being taken to a hospital for burn injuries. In another instance, a man stepping out from a mosque was attacked and burnt alive inside the mosque by rioters. The prosecution had detailed several such incidents of gory violence.
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