<p>A Delhi Court on Saturday held 15 out of 97 people guilty of causing the death of a 70-year-old dalit and his physically-challenged daughter.<br /><br />The two were burnt alive at Mirchpur in Haryana’s Hisar district in a caste-related violence in April last year.<br /><br />The judgment delivered by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau came as a big relief for 82 people belonging particularly to Jat community.<br /><br />All the accused except one have remained in jail following the killing of dalits and burning of over 100 houses on April 19, 2010. <br /><br />The incident caused strong political reactions prompting the police to round up over 100 people in the case.<br /><br />Fair trial<br /><br />The case was later transferred from Hisar to Delhi’s Rohini district Court for a “fair trial” on an order passed by the apex Court on December 8, last year.<br /><br />Out of the 15 convicts, three were convicted of the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 and 12 under the milder offences of arson, unlawful assembly, etc. of the Indian Penal Code.<br /><br />A S J Lau, who absolved 82 people of all the charges including that of the SC/ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act, said, “The possibility of false implication of many of the accused cannot be ruled out on account of the political pressure only to work out the present case.”<br /><br />Station House Officer of Narnaund police station Vinod Kajal was among the accused acquitted of the charges of murder and rioting.<br /><br />The trial that commenced on August 10 could be concluded in a short period of 13 months even though as many as 113 witnesses including 44 of defence were examined.<br /><br />The court will now hear arguments on September 29 on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the 15 convicts.<br /><br />During the trial, the court had to order deployment of CRPF in the village for protection to the witnesses and victims on February 1.<br /><br />According to the prosecution, the accused had resorted to rioting and attacked the houses of persons of Valmiki community on April 21 last year as a pet dog of a dalit had barked at a group of Jats two days ago when they were passing through the colony.<br /><br />The accused had got enraged when a dalit boy objected to hurling of stones by Jat youths on the dog, it said, adding that later it led to the killings of Tara Chand and his physically challenged teenaged daughter Suman.</p>
<p>A Delhi Court on Saturday held 15 out of 97 people guilty of causing the death of a 70-year-old dalit and his physically-challenged daughter.<br /><br />The two were burnt alive at Mirchpur in Haryana’s Hisar district in a caste-related violence in April last year.<br /><br />The judgment delivered by Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Kamini Lau came as a big relief for 82 people belonging particularly to Jat community.<br /><br />All the accused except one have remained in jail following the killing of dalits and burning of over 100 houses on April 19, 2010. <br /><br />The incident caused strong political reactions prompting the police to round up over 100 people in the case.<br /><br />Fair trial<br /><br />The case was later transferred from Hisar to Delhi’s Rohini district Court for a “fair trial” on an order passed by the apex Court on December 8, last year.<br /><br />Out of the 15 convicts, three were convicted of the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 and 12 under the milder offences of arson, unlawful assembly, etc. of the Indian Penal Code.<br /><br />A S J Lau, who absolved 82 people of all the charges including that of the SC/ST (Prevention of atrocities) Act, said, “The possibility of false implication of many of the accused cannot be ruled out on account of the political pressure only to work out the present case.”<br /><br />Station House Officer of Narnaund police station Vinod Kajal was among the accused acquitted of the charges of murder and rioting.<br /><br />The trial that commenced on August 10 could be concluded in a short period of 13 months even though as many as 113 witnesses including 44 of defence were examined.<br /><br />The court will now hear arguments on September 29 on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to the 15 convicts.<br /><br />During the trial, the court had to order deployment of CRPF in the village for protection to the witnesses and victims on February 1.<br /><br />According to the prosecution, the accused had resorted to rioting and attacked the houses of persons of Valmiki community on April 21 last year as a pet dog of a dalit had barked at a group of Jats two days ago when they were passing through the colony.<br /><br />The accused had got enraged when a dalit boy objected to hurling of stones by Jat youths on the dog, it said, adding that later it led to the killings of Tara Chand and his physically challenged teenaged daughter Suman.</p>
