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A court in the Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday sentenced three persons to death in the Dehuli massacre which took place forty-four years ago. 24 Dalits were killed in the incident.
Special judge Indira Singh convicted Kaptan Singh, Rampal and Ram Sevak on March 12. Apart from sentencing, the court imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the convicts who broke down inside the court as soon as the punishment was pronounced. The court termed the case 'rarest of the rare' due to the brutality which was done with the victims. The court added that since this is one of the rarest of rare cases, it would be justified to award the death penalty to the convicted offenders with the firm belief that it would act not only as a deterrent principle of punishment but also as a medium/instrument of justice to the victims and their families. At around 5 pm on 18 November 1981, armed miscreants entered the village of Dihuli in the Thana Jasrana area of the then-district Mainpuri and attacked the Scheduled Caste colony. They started firing bullets on the women, men and children present in the houses. The miscreants fired for three hours. 23 people died on the spot in the firing. While one injured died during treatment in Firozabad hospital. The FIR of the incident was lodged by Dihuli resident Layak Singh in Jasrana police station against Radheshyam alias Radhe, and Santosh Chauhan alias Santosha. Ramsevak, Ravindra Singh, Rampal Singh, Vedram Singh, Mitthu, Bhupram, Manik Chandra, Laturi, Ramsingh, Chunnilal, Horilal, Sonpal, Layak Singh, Banwari, Jagdish, Revati Devi, Phool Devi, Captain Singh, Kamruddin, Shyamveer, Kunwarpal, Lakshmi were involved in the case. In 44 years, the case was transferred from Mainpuri to Allahabad. It was transferred to the Mainpuri Sessions Court on October 19, 2024. On the orders of the District Judge, it was heard in the special court. In over four decades, 14 among the 20 accused died while three were sentenced to death and others are still absconding. (ANI)
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