INDIA: HC CONFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR FIVE FROM AHMEDNAGAR FOR KILLING THREE DALIT MEN

December 10, 2019:

The Bombay High Court on 2 December 2019 confirmed the death penalty for five upper caste men convicted of the murder of three Dalit men in Sonai village, Ahmednagar, in 2013 because one of them fell in love with a girl from the upper caste family.
A Division Bench of Justices B.P. Dharmadhikari and Sandeep Shinde was hearing criminal appeals filed by Ramesh, Prakash, Ganesh and Popat Darandale, Sandip Kurhe and Ashok Navgire, who were all convicted for murdering three men by the sessions court. However, the HC set aside Mr. Navgire’s conviction and set him free.
Sandeep Thanwar, Rahul Kandare, Sachin Gharu worked as sweepers at Trimurti Prathisthan College. As per the prosecution, Gharu, who belonged to a scheduled caste, fell in love with Seema Darandale, who is from the Maratha caste. She is Popat’s daughter and was doing B.Ed at the college.
On 1 January 2013, all the deceased reached to clean septic tanks at Darandale Vasti at the farmhouse where the Darandales lived. Soon thereafter, Thanwar’s body was found in the septic tank and Gharu and Kandare were found in a well. Gharu had been beheaded and his limbs were found.