Life Terms For Rioters Revives Hope Among Victims, Families, 2002 - India/Religion
1/2/08
Church and human rights activists say 11 people being sentenced to life terms for rape and murder during the 2002 sectarian violence in Gujarat has revived hope among thousands of riot victims. On Jan. 21, a special court in Mumbai convicted the defendants of gang-raping Bilkis Bano, a pregnant Muslim woman, and murdering 14 of her relatives. These violent crimes occurred between February and May 2002, when fanatic Hindu groups attacked Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people were believed killed. “Even though justice was delayed, it has not been denied,” remarked Jesuit Father Cedric Prakash, who directs Prashant (tranquility), a human rights center in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s commercial capital, 915 kilometers southwest of New Delhi.
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