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“Khairlanji fit case for death penalty”

Meena Menon

Sentence to be pronounced on September 24; entry to village restricted

Das criticises media for “partisan attitude”
to his judgment
If people have problems with verdict, they can approach High Court

MUMBAI: The much-awaited sentencing in the Khairlanji murder case will take place on September 24. On Saturday, the Central Bureau of Investigation and special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam pressing for the death penalty for the convicts.

Last Monday, an ad hoc sessions court in Bhandara convicted eight persons of the murder of four members of the Dalit family of Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange.

Sessions judge S.S. Das came down on the media for taking a “partisan attitude” to his judgment, which did not convict the accused under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes ( Prevention of Atrocities ) Act. Mr. Das also criticised activists who threatened to take the law into their own hands if the guilty were not given the death sentence.

If people had problems with the verdict, they could approach the Bombay High Court. He said he would not tolerate this kind of expression of dissent in future and would be constrained to exercise his jurisdiction.

Mr. Das said he had received threatening phone calls, abusing him since the first day of the trial.

In response to the court request, Mr. Nikam submitted television recordings of stories by private news channels, apart from interviews of activists who were trying to “interfere” with the court’s work. The court indicated that it might contemplate some action.

In the arguments on sentencing, CBI prosecutor Ejaz Khan said the court found all the eight guilty of murder and unlawful assembly. Each of them played an overt part in the crime, and the maximum penalty must be given.

Mr. Nikam said it was the rarest of rare cases. The accused committed a gruesome murder, which was diabolically conceived and cruelly executed. On September 29, 2006, a mob encircled the Bhotmange house and abused Surekha, wife of Bhaiyyalal; daughter Priyanka and sons Roshan and Sudhir around 6.30 pm. Though Surekha set fire to a cattle shed to scare away the mob, it extinguished the blaze and assaulted her first by dragging her into a drain and then killing her. It was not merely a “cold-blooded murder but frozen-blooded murder,” Mr. Nikam told the court.

He said the mob assaulted Priyanka and the two boys, who had no role to play and were defenceless. This was a case fit for the death penalty and it should be a deterrent.

Defence lawyer Neeraj Khandewale said there was no extreme brutality or diabolic planning involved. What happened was an act on the spur of the moment. Had Surekha not set fire to the cattle shed, the incident would have not taken place. The accused feared that they would be implicated in another false case and tried to put out the fire. Even the prosecution witness, Mukesh Pusam, had said the accused were standing outside her house and they were provoked only when she set fire to the shed.

Mr. Khandewale said the accused were poor, landless labourers with families and they might reform if given a chance.

Security was tight in Bhandara and entry to Khairlanji village was restricted.

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