The Jehanabad District Court on Tuesday pronounced capital punishment to ten of the 16 accused in the 1999 carnage in Senari village of the district in which 34 people were butchered by the now defunct Maoist Communist Centre (MCC).
The court also sentenced three convicts to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs1 lakh each on three others. A total of 38 people had been accused in the case, of which 16 were convicted and the remaining acquitted.
The 16 accused, who were either backwards or Dalits and constitute the support base of the MCC, were charged with killing 34 people belonging to the upper caste in Senari village on the night of March 18, 1999.
Hundreds of MCC cadres attacked the village and pulled out 34 men of the Bhumihar caste and massacred them near the Thakurbari temple. The case had been filed by Chinta Devi, who lost her husband and son in this carnage. Devi died five years ago while fighting the case that lasted for about 17 years, during which four of the accused also died. Significantly, of the 66 witnesses just 32 recorded their statements.
On earlier occasions also, the lower courts had handed out severe punishments in other massacre cases, but their orders were quashed by the High Court. Prominent among them is the massacre of 58 low caste people, including children and women, by the Ranveer Sena at lakshmanpur Bathe Village in Jehanabad in December 1997.
The special court in April 2010 handed out capital punishment to 16 accused and life imprisonment to ten but the High Court in October 2013 acquitted all the convicts.
Similarly, in another case pertaining to the massacre of 35 upper caste people on February 12, 1992 at Bara Village in Gaya, the High Court acquitted all 23 accused who had been convicted by a lower court with hanging of three accused and life term to 20 others.