Una Dalit flogging case: 5 sent to 5 years in jail; 35 acquitted

Ahmedabad: A special court on Tuesday sentenced five individuals to five years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each in the Una Dalit flogging case, a day after finding them guilty even as it acquitted 35 other suspects.

All five convicted individuals, who are currently out on bail, have already spent over five years in jail, meaning they may not have to serve the sentence.

The court of additional sessions judge Jignesh Pandya pronounced the quantum of sentence after finding them guilty under the charges of voluntarily causing hurt using dangerous weapons (IPC 324), wrongful confinement (IPC 342) and intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace (IPC 504) and charges under section of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (prevention) act.

Those who have been sentenced are Ramesh Jadav, Rakesh Joshi, Pramod Giri Goswami, Nagji Daya, and Balwant Goswami.

The court didn't find evidence to prosecute them under charges of attempt to murder, unlawful assembly and conspiracy, the stringent sections which have provision of life sentence.

On July 11, 2016, members of the Sarvaiya family, Balu Sarvaiya, his wife Kunwar, sons Vasram and Ramesh and relatives Ashok and Becher, were attacked by the upper-caste men claiming to be cow vigilantes in their village at Mota Samadhiyala in Una town of Gir-Somnath district.

They were beaten up for skinning a dead cow. Vasram, Ramesh, Ashok and Becher were caught by the accused and were paraded in public while they were tied to an SUV. Investigation revealed that the family was skinning a dead cow, which had been killed by an Asiatic lioness.

The court found that the prosecution failed to prove the charges with sufficient evidence. The order states that nothing came on record to show that the cow was actually killed by the lioness, as there was no detail of any compensation given to the owner of the cow.

Meanwhile, Vasram Sarvaiya told DH that they were "sad" with the judgment. He said that "the fight would continue as he will challenge the judgment."

Similarly, Dalit leader and Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani also expressed "shock" over the judgment. 

Noting that the provision for awarding compensation lies with the district magistrate, the court has directed the District Legal Service Authority to provide free copies of Mahatma Gandhi's book, My Experiment with Truth, to the victims to "support their mental well-being and help them endure the wrongs they have faced within the limits of the law."

The judge further stated that a similar directive could have been issued for the accused persons also, but there is no provision in the law to do so. The court directed the government to look into cow slaughter offences thoroughly.