Daily Times

AHMEDABAD: Indian prosecutors sought death penalty on Monday for 24 Hindus convicted of massacre during religious riots in 2002 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was chief minister of the state where it happened. Judge P.B Desai heard submissions from the prosecution as well as lawyers representing the 24 convicted over the killings, before adjourning final sentencing until Thursday.

The 24 were found guilty last week of playing a role in the massacre of 69 Muslims who were hacked and burnt to death as they sheltered at a residential complex in the city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat state. It was one of the worst massacres of the weeklong violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in total. Public prosecutor R.C Kodekar told the court on Monday some of the victims were women and children. “The crime is rarest of the rare as the victims were hacked to death and then burnt by the accused,” Kodekar told the court.