Haryana's dalit lynching case: 7 held guilty, 19 acquitted

A court at Jatoday convicted seven persons guilty for the killing of five scheduled caste men at Dulina village here eight years ago but acquitted 19 others in the case.

Additional district judge AK Jain held Pradhan, Om Prakash Kablana, Shishu Pal Malik, Ranbir Malhan, Jagbir Malhan, Satbir Singh Rathi, Ramesh Surha and Sube Singh, all residents of Kaloi village in this district, guilty of the lynching of the Dalits on the night of October 15, 2002.

The quantum of punishment would be pronounced by the court on Monday.

After the verdict, all seven convicts were sent to the judicial custody.

The police had booked 28 persons under various sections of the IPC on the charge of lynching of five Dalit men at Dulina late on October 15, 2002 night.

The trial in the case lasted nearly eight years during which 28 accused died.

The incident had taken place when the men, hailing from Mewat region, were on their way in a tempo. Some villagers, who were returning after celebrating Dusshera, noticed a cow in the tempo and took the occupants to the Dulina police post.

As the news of their arrest spread, people from the nearby villages converged at the spot and blocked traffic on Gurgaon Road, demanding that the men be punished.

On getting information, senior district officials had rushed to the spot with a police contingent but by then the gathering had turned wild and was unmanageable.

The mob captured the police post, dragged the men out on the road and thrashed them to death on the spot.

The incident had sparked a national outrage and it  was raised in Parliament.