Seven get life term for lynching Dalits in Haryana

JHAJJAR - A court here Monday awarded life imprisonment to seven people for the 2002 lynching of five Dalits in this Haryana district.

All the convicts were produced in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge A.K. Jain, amidst heavy security. After the sentencing, the accused were sent to Rohtak jail.

The court acquitted 19 people in the case Saturday.

Those convicted are: Om Prakash Kablana (head of Gaushala village), Shishu Pal Malik, Ranbir Malhan, Jagbir Malhan, Satbir Singh Rathi, Ramesh Surha and Sube Singh, all residents of Kaloi village in this district.

Haryana Police registered a case against 28 people following the lynching of the Dalits at Dulina village Oct 15, 2002.

The victims, who hailed from Mewat area of Haryana, were taking a cow with them on a vehicle. Some villagers saw them and took them to a police post in Dulina village.

After a while, residents of nearby villages gathered at Dulina. The mob then started demanding that the five men be punished.

Police and district officials from Gurgaon (Jhajjar earlier was not a district) reached the place but the mob pulled the five men out of the police post and beat them to death on the road.

The court took eight years to decide the case. During this period, two of the 28 accused died.