Life in prison for Gujarat guilty

Twelve Hindus have been given life prison sentences in India's Gujarat state for killing Muslims in religious riots last year.

The case relates to the murder of 14 Muslims in Ghodasar village after 59 people were killed on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims at Godhra.

The Gujarat riots left more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, dead and were denounced by human rights groups.

The guilty verdicts were the first of their kind since the riots.

Some estimates put the riots toll at 2,000.

Many acquitted

The 12 Hindus sentenced on Tuesday had been found guilty a day earlier.

Muslims in other cases say they were scared into not giving evidence

Three others convicted of unlawful assembly and violence were given two year jail sentences.

Another 48 people accused in the case were acquitted.

More than 100 houses and shops belonging to Muslims in Ghodasar were burnt down.

The BBC's Rajeev Khanna, who was in Ghodasar last week, says that fewer than seven Muslim families are now living in the village.

But he says many Muslims who survived the carnage are thankful to the Hindus of a neighbouring village, Jalampura, for having helped them escape to safety.

Trials halted

The Indian supreme court has been highly critical of the government and judicial authorities in the state of Gujarat.

Last Friday it halted the trial of nine cases relating to the riots.

It was responding to a request to transfer the cases outside of Gujarat state to ensure a fair trial after Muslim witnesses said they had suffered intimidation.

Our correspondent says some Muslims in Gujarat now feel that the Ghodasar killings verdict will have a far reaching impact on other cases relating to the riots.

One Muslim lawyer, MI Lalliwala, told the BBC that the witnesses were determined to give their evidence.

"They told the court how Muslims had been killed... they did not conceal anything. This is likely to happen in other cases where witnesses will come out fearlessly and openly," he said.

The public prosecutor in the case - appointed by the Gujarat government - was Paresh Dohra, a member of the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) organisation.

Last month the Indian supreme court lambasted the way the Gujarat government had appointed public prosecutors, and insisted that henceforth, appointments be vetted by the central government's top lawyers.

Mr Dohra on Tuesday said the Ghodasar verdicts proved that his support for a Hindu organisation did not prevent him from working for justice for Muslims in the state.

"What difference does it make if I have an RSS background?" he asked.

And he said he would look into whether to appeal against the court's decision to acquit 48 people accused in the case.