INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER OF DALIT
February 15, 2017: 27 years after a Dalit man was burnt alive by some upper caste men in Hathras, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a sessions court sentenced one person to death and 11 others to life imprisonment for the crime.
Special judge SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act) SN Tripathi pronounced capital punishment for Kunwar Pal who had thrown an injured Dataram into a burning hut on March 11, 1990. The judge termed the crime as 'rarest of rare offences'.
The court sentenced Jogendra, Babu Singh alias Vijyendra, Rajendra, Hariom, Umashankar, Anil Kumar alias Bhola, Mukesh, Anil alias Pappe, Santosh, Dinesh Darji and Shambhu to life imprisonment.
Talking to Times of India, prosecuting officer Chawi Ranjan Dwivedi said that the incident had occurred on March 11, 1990, the day of holi (a Hindu spring festival).
A couple of Dalits, including Udayveer from Rudayan village of Hathras, had thrown colour on an upper caste Thakur's face. Hence, the Thakur and his associates thrashed Udayveer and later burnt houses of 40 Dalits in the village. Dataram, who was not involved in the incident, was shot at by Jogendra with a country-made pistol and Kunwar Pal had thrown him into one of the burning huts, added Dwivedi. (Source: TNN, 16/02/2017)
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