2002 riot convict gets bail in rape case filed by wife

Ahmedabad, Feb 4: A convict in the Naroda Patiya riot massacre case of 2002 was on Feb 3 granted bail by a local court in a case of alleged marital rape filed by his wife.

Metropolitan Magistrate M F Khatri granted regular bail to Suresh Langdo on a security deposit of Rs 25,000 while not accepting the rape charge after going through the medical report of the victim.

Langdo was sentenced to 35 years in jail along with 31 other convicts, including former BJP Minister Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babubhai Patel alias Babu Bajrangi, for the riot in Naroda Patiya here, where nearly 100 people were killed by a mob in aftermath of the Godhra train fire.

Last month, his wife filed a police complaint alleging Langdo had sexually assaulted her whenever he was out on parole.

Based on the complaint, police lodged an FIR against him under IPC Sections 376 (rape) and 377 (unnatural offences).

Langdo was in news last month for allegedly assaulting a woman journalist who had gone to interview him. He was out on one-month parole granted by the Gujarat High Court.

The journalist later filed a complaint after which police booked him under IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by sharp weapons).

He was arrested by Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) late last month and sent to Sabarmati Central Jail.

PTI