Koppal: Court sentences 98 to life imprisonment for burning Dalits huts, assault in Marakumbi
Koppal: Koppal District and Sessions Court has pronounced its verdict on 101 accused whom it had found guilty in the case of atrocity against Dalits at Marakumbi village in 2014, on Thursday. The convicts had also burnt the huts of Dalits and had physically assaulted their victims.
The court has sentenced 98 out of the 101 convicts to life term imprisonment and has levied a fine Rs 5000 on each of them. As three of the convicts belonged to the SC/ST category, the atrocity act hasn't been applied to them. These convicts have been sentenced to 5 years of jail and Rs 2000 fine.
Judge C Chandrashekhar of the Koppal District and Sessions Court had pronounced the guilty verdict on Monday, nine years after the incident. He had reserved the judgement on punishment to Thursday.
The case concerns with the practice of untouchability where Dalits were barred entry to barber shops and restaurants in Marakumbi village of Gangavathi in 2015. This had resulted in a clash between two communities. Police had visited the village to register a case regarding this and an investigation was in progress. Enraged by the complaint filed, upper caste people had attacked the Dalit colony at night and set huts on fire.
117 people of the village had been booked for the crime. Some of the accused died before the case came to a closure. 101 of the accused had been found guilty by the court. However, the police had arrested only 100 and one accused had escaped them. The police have finally succeeded in nabbing him.
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UP Police use tear gas to disperse crowd throwing stones during Sambhal mosque survey
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.
"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.
District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."
Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.
Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.
He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.
"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.
The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Stones and slippers pelted in Sambhal when a survey team reached Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 24, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#SambhalJamaMasjid pic.twitter.com/K4QGGpzlMK
