44 Years On, 3 Get Death For Killing 24 Dalits In Mainpuri

A special court in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday sentenced three men to death for the massacre of 24 Dalit people in 1981, bringing the curtain down on a grisly crime where a gang led by Thakur dacoits targeted villagers 44 years ago, on the suspicion that they were police informers.

- Pawan Dixit

LUCKNOW:

Special Judge Indira Singh convicted the trio, Kaptan Singh, 60, Rampal, 60, and Ram Sevak, 70, on March 11. The court pronounced the quantum of punishment on Tuesday. Apart from capital punishment, the court imposed a ₹50,000 fine on the convicts.

Ramsevak and Kaptan Singh were convicted under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 449 (house-trespass after entering someone's house), and 450 (house-trespass) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Rampal was convicted under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 216 A (harbouring criminals) of IPC.

"The court has awarded death sentences to Ramsewak, Kaptan Singh and Rampal. However, the case file will remain open as one convicted person Gyanchandra is still absconding," said Rohit Shukla, who represented the state government in court.

"The incident was a gruesome killing of 24 persons. As it falls in the rarest of rare' category, capital punishment has been awarded (to three persons)," said additional district judge Indira Singh in an open court while passing the order.