A court in India has convicted 31 Hindus and sentenced them to life in prison for killing dozens of Muslims nearly a decade ago, in one of the country's worst outbreaks of sectarian violence.

A judge handed down the guilty verdicts Wednesday, while acquitting 41 other people.

A group of 33 Muslims who had sought shelter in a house were burned to death after a mob set fire to a building in Gujarat state in 2002.

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 train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims. Earlier this year, a court sentenced 11 people to death and 20 to life in prison for involvement in that incident.