6 Khairlanji convicts spared the gallows
Vaibhav Ganjapure, TNN, Jul 15, 2010, 03.03am IST
NAGPUR: Nearly two years ago, in September 2008, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange
— the lone dalit survivor of the Khairlanji massacre of four dalits —
had flashed a victory sign and a smile after the Bhandara sessions
court sentenced six of the eight accused to death. But on Wednesday,
there were smiles on the faces of the six convicts saved from the
gallows after the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court commuted their
capital punishment to life terms. A nonplussed Bhotmange (55)
muttered, "This was totally unexpected."
A special division bench comprising justices Avinash Lavande and
Ravindra Chavan, via video conferencing, sentenced each of the six
convicts to actual imprisonment of 25 years (without remission),
including the time already served, for lynching four of Bhotmange's
family members on September 29, 2006, in Khairlanji village in
Bhandara district.
The case had reached the Bombay High Court in October 2008 for the
confirmation of death sentence. The accused had challenged the
verdict, while a plea regarding confirmation of death sentence was
filed by the state government, besides the prosecuting agency, CBI.
But the HC rejected the appeals, maintaining the sessions court order
— that the prosecution failed to produce evidence suggesting caste
hatred in the killing of the dalit family — was valid. The SC/ST
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act didn't kick in.
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