Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision to acquit all the 56 accused in Tsunduru massacre of eight Dalits has evoked a strong reaction from the State’s Dalit organisations which vowed to challenge the verdict in Supreme Court. The massacre, allegedly by the people of upper castes in Tsunduru Village of Guntur district in 1991, had rocked Andhra Pradesh and sent shock waves across the country.
Apart from the Dalit organisations, Guntur rural district Superintendent of Police J Satyanarayana has also expressed his intention to question the decision of the High Court division bench. “We will discuss the matter with the public prosecutors and Government advocates and file a petition in the Supreme Court,” he said. The division bench comprising of Justice l Narasimha Reddy and MSK Jaiswal acquitted the accused who had challenged the 2007 sentencing by a special court.
While police had filed chargesheets against 219 people for murder and under various other sections of SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, the special court judge found 56 guilty. As many as 33 accused died during the investigation and trial of the case. The special court had sentenced 21 convicts to life imprisonment and 35 others to one-year imprisonment.
But the High Court has now upturned the special court’s verdict on the ground of lack of evidence. The division bench held that the prosecution failed to prove the exact time of death, place of occurrence and the identity of attackers. The HC also found the statement of one of the key witnesses as weak. Reacting strongly to the judgment, Dalit Maha Sabha’s K Padma Rao said that it will move the Supreme Court against it to get justice to the victims. Another Dalit activist Mallepally lakshmaiah also urged the State Government to take action and restore the faith of the people, especially Dalits in the judicial system.