3 Get Death Sentence For Killing 24 Dalits In UP Over 4 Decades Ago
Aside from the capital punishment, the court imposed a Rs 50,000 fine on the convicts.
A special court in UP’s Mainpuri district on Tuesday sentenced three persons to death in the 1981 Dehuli massacre which saw 24 Dalits, including women and two children, being killed.
On March 12, special judge Indira Singh convicted the trio, namely, Kaptan Singh (60), Rampal (60) and Ram Sevak (70).
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Aside from the capital punishment, the court imposed a Rs 50,000 fine on the convicts, government counsel Rohit Shukla told PTI.
A gang of 17 dacoits led by Santosh Singh alias Santosha and Radhey Shyam alias Radhey dressed in khakis stormed Dehuli at around 4.30 pm on November 18, 1981.
They targeted Dalit families, gunning down 24 people, including the toddlers aged six months and two years, respectively.
The original FIR named 17 accused under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 396 (dacoity with murder), among others offences of the IPC.
Of the total accused, 14 persons died during the pendency of trial whereas one was declared an absconder.
The FIR was filed by Laik Singh, a local resident, on November 19, 1981, and following a detailed investigation, the dacoits, including gang leaders Santosh and Radhey, were chargesheeted.
Shukla said he pleaded for capital punishment in view of the gruesome massacre and the case falling in the rarest of rare category.
He said the judge after considering the evidence and hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence at length passed the verdict.
Initially the trial of the case began in the court of special judge dacoity affected (DAA) area Mainpuri but was later transferred to a sessions court in Allahabad where the evidence of the witnesses was recorded.
In December 2024, the trial records were sent back from the Allahabad sessions court to special judge (DAA) Singh to decide the case, Shukla said.
During the trial, of the 17 undertrials, 13 accused including Santosh and Radhey died whereas one person remained untraced.
In response to the tragedy, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met the affected families whereas Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader in the opposition, undertook a pad yatra from Dihuli to Sadupur in Firozabad, offering solidarity with the grieving families.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI)- Location :
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