Guj riots: Two out of three from a family convicted in Ode vedict

The verdict of Ode massacre didn't bring any change to Kalpesh Patel's life. Though he was acquitted from the charges of being a part of the mob, which killed 23 innocent people in the village on March 1, 2002, he couldn't celebrate that moment because his father Harish Patel and his uncle Dilip Patel were convicted in the massacre case.

Kalpesh was out on the bail and is presently managing his father and uncle's business of tobacco trading. He said, "My father has established this business after long struggle. He has gained name and fame in the business of his own. I would say we have been victimized by community politics. My uncle was consistently elected unanimously as chairman of our village's credit society, since its inception. My father was the vice-chairman of our community. People used to prefer approach him for solving internal disputes rather than approaching court or police. All this goodwill has worked against my father and uncle and some jealous people have succeeded fixing them wrongly in the case."

He added, "My father has revolutionary attitude. He had married my mother, who belongs different circle of our community. It was a love marriage in the early 60s at a time when such things were unheard of. He has brought many positive changes in the community with his influence. He was never into the politics but he has been victim of the politics."

He indicated that they would be filing appeal against the verdict in the court.