persons held guilty in the post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gangrape and

massacre case to life imprisonment.

Special court judge U D Salvi, while announcing the quantum of

punishment, sentenced a twelfth convict -- a suspended policeman --

to three years rigorous imprisonment.

The court had on January 18 passed its judgement but had deferred

pronouncing the quantum of punishment till today.

As many as fourteen members of Bilkis Bano's family were killed

by rioteers in Dahod district of Gujarat in the aftermath of the

Godhra carnage in 2002.

The women in the family were gangraped. Bilkis Bano, who was

six-month pregnant at that time, was also gangraped, but her life

was spared.

The Bilkis Bano gangrape and massacre case was the second

post-Godhra riot case after Vadodara's Best Bakery to be transferred

to Maharashtra from Gujarat. This case was transferred on the

directives of the Supreme Court after Bilkis Bano expressed doubts

about a free trial in Gujarat.
The eleven persons were convicted under IPC sections 120 (b) (conspiracy), 149 (unlawful assembly), 376 (2) (e)(g) (gangrape) and 302 (murder).

One of the members of this group, Naresh Mordhiya, died during the course of the trial.

Police official, Gori, was found guilty by the court under sections 217 and 218 of IPC for attempting to shield the offenders.

While convicting the eleven accused, the court had considered the statements of Bilkis and one of the child witnesses, who was eight-years-old at the time of the incident.