A special court in India has convicted 31 Hindus for the 2002 killing of dozens of Muslims during one of the country's worst outbreaks of sectarian violence.

The judge in the case handed down the guilty verdicts Wednesday, while acquitting 41 others.

A group of 33 Muslims who had sought shelter in a house were burned to death after a mob set fire to the building in Gujarat state.

The incident was part of a wave of anti-Muslim rioting in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.

The rioting followed a deadly train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims. Earlier this year, a court sentenced 11 people to death and 20 people to life in prison for the train fire.