Advertisment

Godhara Riots : Halol Court Acquitted 14 accused in the case

author-image
BNN Correspondents
Updated On
New Update

18 years after the trial began, a Halol court in Gujarat's Panchmahal district acquitted 14 defendants of murder and rioting in the post-Godhra 2002 riots. Due to their deaths, five other defendants were acquitted.

Advertisment

According to additional sessions judge Harsh Balkrishna Trivedi, it is a “general norm not to convict somebody unless Corpus delicti can be established,” so the prosecution failed to show its case.

The court stated, “In case on hand, on 7/1/2004 when F.S.L. expert claimed ‘No DNA profiling results would be acquired upon entirely burnt bone bits' (supposed to have been of the missing persons) then immediately rule of Corpus delicti was necessary to be considered.”



With no body remains found at the crime scene, the prosecution failed to substantiate the crime's location. The court further stated that the prosecution failed to prove the accused's presence at the crime scene or their role in it, failed to recover the purported weapons from the accused, and found no inflammable substance at the crime scene.

In 2002, communal riots broke out across Gujarat after the Sabarmati Express train burned at Godhra. According to the original complaint, numerous Muslims at the Kalol relief camp who had evacuated the Delol hamlet said their family members were gone. Another relief camp resident said he fled his village home with his son to escape a mob of 150-200 people and that 18 Muslims from the hamlet were missing.

Advertisment
Advertisment