A local court in the western Indian state of Gujarat has acquitted 22 people accused of killing 17 Muslim minorities during the 2002 riots.

They were acquitted on the pretext of a lack of evidence against them, according to local reports.

Eight of the accused died during the course of the trial in this case.

According to the prosecution, on February 28, 2002, the suspects killed at least 17 Muslims in Delol village and burnt their bodies.

In the Gujarat massacre in 2002, at least 2000 people were murdered during the violence where the vast majority were Muslims.

It is estimated that 230 mosques and 274 dargahs were destroyed during the violence.

In the aftermath of the violence, it became clear that many attacks were focused not only on Muslim populations, but also on Muslim women and children.

Organizations such as Human Rights Watch criticized the Indian government and the Gujarat state administration for failing to address the resulting humanitarian condition of victims who fled their homes for relief camps during the violence,

Scholars studying the 2002 riots state that they were premeditated and constituted a form of ethnic cleansing and that the state government and law enforcement were complicit in the violence that occurred

A BBC documentary titled India: The Modi Question accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being directly responsible for the 2002 massacre of Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by riots that left more than 1,000 people dead — most of them Muslims. (ILKHA)