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Indian gang rape victim names 12 attackers

BOMBAY, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- A key witness in a high-profile alleged multiple murder and gang rape case during religious riots in India in 2002 has identified 12 of the accused in court.

In a bold step, Bilkis Bano identified the 12 among 20 people standing trial in the case. Bano says she was gang raped and her daughter and other relatives were killed during riots in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, reported the BBC.

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According to her testimony, she witnessed the assailants kill six of her relatives including her daughter. She was six months pregnant at the time of the rape.

The trial is taking place in Bombay in Maharashtra state, next to Gujarat. Bano requested that the trial take place outside of Gujurat for fear of harm to her and the investigators, reported the Deccan Herald.

The religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 followed an alleged attack by a Muslim mob on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. Fifty-nine Hindus died after the train caught fire.

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