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Godhra accused denied 'sex bail'
September 14, 2004
Ahmedabad - A special court has refused bail to a man charged for the train
torching that triggered riots in Gujarat two years ago.
He had applied for bail so that he could go home to have sex with his wife.
The special court in Ahmedabad said if it granted bail in this case, many other
prisoners would ask for the same thing.
Firozkhan Zafarkhan had sought bail last month, saying he and his wife suffered
mental trauma because they had not had sex for a long time.
He has been in jail for more than 30 months, charged under tough anti-terrorism
law Pota, for being part of a mob that torched Sabarmati Express in Godhra, in
Gujarat, in February, 2002, killing 59 pilgrims, including women and children.
The torching triggered days of communal bloodshed, some of India's worst, in
which rights groups say more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, were burned and
hacked to death.
Zafarkhan had told the court his religion and India's conservative culture
forbade him from having sex with anyone but his wife.
"We opposed the bail plea because granting of bail to one would have opened the
floodgates of such requests from other prisoners. There is also no provision in
law," prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt said.
But the judge did order longer visiting hours.
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