Ode riots case: HC upholds conviction of 19

AHEMDABAD: Observing that “communal frenzy turns perfectly normal human beings momentarily into murderous monsters”, the Gujarat high court on Friday upheld conviction of 19 persons and acquitted three others in the 2002 Ode massacre case. Twenty-three Muslims were burnt alive in the Ode town in Anand district in central Gujarat.
In 2012, the SIT court had found 23 persons guilty and awarded life imprisonment to 18 persons for murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and arson. Five others were punished with seven-year jail term for attempt to murder, rioting and other offences. The trial court had acquitted 23 persons in this case. All the accused in this case belonged to the Patidar community.

Of the 18 persons condemned to life imprisonment, a bench of Justice Akil Kureshi and Justice B N Karia confirmed conviction of 14 persons and maintained their sentence as awarded by the trial court. The HC acquitted three – Dilip Patel, Punam Patel and Natubhai Patel. The HC also upheld punishment of five other convicts. One convict Harish Vallabhbhai Patel passed away in jail.

The incident had taken place on March 1, 2002 in Pirawali Bhagol area of Ode town. The victims had taken refuge in a house, which was torched by the violent mob charring 23 persons mostly women and children to death. Only two dead bodies could be recovered from the house while the rest were burnt so badly that their bodies could not be identified leading to police declaring 21 people as missing.

In its judgment, the HC condemned communal violence that proves devastating for families of victims and accused as well. “This phenomenon which we often describe as communal frenzy turn perfectly normal human beings momentarily into murderous monsters leaving nothing but trail of death and destruction for the victims and his own family alike,” the court observed.

The court said, “We have seen senselessness of violence and loss of innocent human lives. We cannot imagine the pain suffered by the victims who perished in the raging fire. We cannot judge the depth of sorrow and despair that the members of the families of the victims would have felt while helplessly watching their relatives being killed in front of their eyes in most gruesome manner.” The HC also described agony of accused persons’ families during lengthy legal proceedings.

Besides the HC confirmed acquittal of 23 persons and rejected the state government’s demand for death penalty for those who had got life term. The HC refused to treat the case in the rarest of the rare category and said, “We do not find that the accused are beyond reformation. There is nothing to suggest that when eventually released after serving out the entire sentence, they would still be a threat to the society. In other words, we do not find a situation where death is the only option, snuffing out the human life the only possibility.”