14 yrs later, 3 get death for killing 21 Dalits in Bihar

May 13, 2010, Thursaday, HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times

A local court on Wednesday sentenced to death three persons and gave life terms to 20 for killing 21 Dalits in Bhojpur in July 1996.

The judge convicted 23 accused and acquitted 30 men due to lack of evidence May 5, a court official said.

The Ranveer Sena, an outlawed private army of upper-caste landlords, had engineered the carnage. About 70 Sena supporters had attacked the Dalits around 2 pm. Those killed were mainly children and women in the age group of three months to 80 years, according to police records.

First Additional District and Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Srivastava said the attack took place because of a dispute between the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the Sena.

The CPI (M-L) has a large Dalit support base.

With the present case concluding, the court will now take up the issue of Ranveer Sena chief Barmeshwar Mukhia, against whom litigation is going on separately. His name has not been attached to the main case because he was initially shown to be an absconder.

The massacre took place on July 11, 1996 in the Sahar block of Bhojpur district, 80 km west of Patna.

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