Mumbai, Jan. 21: A Mumbai special court today handed life terms to 11 of the 12 found guilty in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

Additional sessions judge U.D. Salvi relied on the single testimony of Bilkis, who was raped by 12 neighbours in a Gujarat village during the March 2002 riots.

She also saw them butcher her four-year-old daughter and other family members as they tried to flee Devgad Baria, 250km from Ahmedabad. The case was transferred to Maharashtra in April 2004 for a “fair trial”, which started in January 2005.

The only accused not given a life term is Somabhai Gori, a suspended police constable charged with recording a distorted complaint. He was awarded three years in jail, but will be released soon as he has already spent four years behind bars.

Relatives of the accused squatted on the court premises this morning and refused to leave before the sentencing began. The police later drove them out.

Defence lawyer Rajendra Shirodkar said he would “appeal” in the high court. “We are confident and positive. Our first priority will be to obtain a copy of the judgment and then we will examine the options we are left with.”

All the 11 have also been awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping Bilkis’s mother Shameem and her relative Haleema before they were murdered. They will have to pay a fine upwards of Rs 30,000 each.

Special public prosecutor R.K. Shah had sought the death penalty for Jaswantibhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai and Shailesh Bhatt. The first two were convicted for raping Bilkis, and Bhatt for killing her daughter Saleha.

The rest — Radheshyam Shah, Bipin Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajanbhai Soni, Nitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana — were held guilty of involvement in the conspiracy and of being part of a group with a common intention to rape and kill.