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Death sentence for six in Khairlanji case; life for two

MUMBAI: In a historic verdict on Wednesday, the ad hoc sessions court in Bhandara handed out the death sentence to six persons in the Khairlanji massacre case, while two were given life imprisonment.

On September 15, sessions judge S.S. Das convicted eight of the 11 accused of murder, rioting with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly and suppressing evidence, while acquitting three of all charges.

The court also found no evidence under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code which refers to assault or criminal force with intent to outrage the modesty of a woman.

While Gopal Binjewar and Shishupal Dhande were given life imprisonment, the six sentenced to death are: Sakru Binjewar, Shatrughna Dhande, Vishwanath Dhande, Ramu Dhande, Jagdish Mandlekar and Prabhakar Mandlekar.

Welcoming the verdict, Ramdas Athavale, Republican Party of India (Athavale) group said it was the first time in the country that six persons were given the death sentence in a case involving the murder of people belonging to the scheduled castes.

Activist and journalist Milind Fulzale from Yavatmal told The Hindu that in the cases of the Gavai brothers who had their eyes gouged out in the 1970s, in the case of the Thombre brothers who were killed in Kalamb in Yavatmal in 1997 during Holi or in the case of Pochiram Kamble, an activist burnt alive during the struggle to rename the Marathwada University, nothing happened. Though cases were filed, either the matter was suppressed or some light sentence handed out. This was the first time that the court conducted a speedy trial and gave the death penalty for six accused, he said.

The verdict comes five days before the second anniversary of the Khairlanji killings of September 29, 2006, which had sent shock waves across the State. Four members of the Bhotmange family, Surekha and her daughter Priyanka, apart from her sons Roshan and Sudhir were killed near their house in Khairlanji in Bhandara district by a mob from the village.

Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, the survivor of the massacre, expressed satisfaction with the sentence. Soon after the incident, he had demanded that all the culprits be hanged. After the conviction, he was disappointed that three people were acquitted. He demanded that the CBI gather fresh evidence against those acquitted and also against the 35 people discharged from the case earlier and proceed against them. If the CBI did not do this, Bhaiyyalal would move the High Court to demand a fresh investigation against the three.

Ujjwal Nikam, special public prosecutor, had demanded death sentence for all eight accused, saying this was a rarest of rare case and a brutal murder diabolically conceived. Mr. Nikam told The Hindu that the judgment was a historic one and would send a strong message to society and act as a deterrent. Women and children cannot be killed in this cruel manner and the verdict sent out a clear warning, he added.

Neeraj Khandewale, defence lawyer, said the death sentence was subject to confirmation by the High Court. “Actually this is not a rarest of rare case but unfortunately the court has awarded death sentence. We are yet to get copies of the judgment and we will decide on the question of appealing in the High Court after that,” he said.