A special court in Uttar Pradesh sentenced three persons to death in the 1981 Dehuli massacre wherein 24 Dalits, including women and two children, were killed. The decision was pronouned on Tuesday, 44 years after the masscare.
Public prosecutor Rohit Shukla said that the three accused in the Dehuli massacre, identifed as Kaptan, Ramsevak, and Rampal have been awarded death penalty and fined Rs 50,000 each. Special judge Indira Singh convicted the trio on March 12.
He said the verdict was delayed and came after over four decades because some of the accused were absent and were later arrested on warrants. The case was later transferred to the High Court, which further delayed the verdict, he said.
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What Was The 1981 Dehuli Massacre?
As many as 24 Dalit people were killed in 1981 when a gang of 17 dacoits led by Santosh Singh alias Santosha and Radhey Shyam alias Radhey dressed in khakis stormed Dehuli on November 18 evening, targeting Dalit families on suspicion that they were police infomers. The victims also included toddlers aged six months and two years, respectively.
At least 17 accused were named in the original FIR and were booked under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 396 (dacoity with murder), among others offences of the IPC. Of the total accused, 14 died during the pendency of trial and one was declared an absconder.
A local resident Laik Singh filed the FIR on November 19, 1981, after which the dacoits, including gang leaders Santosh and Radhey, were chargesheeted on the basis of a detailed investigation.
Government counsel Rohit Shukla told news agency PTI that he advocated for capital punishment due to the brutal nature of the massacre, categorising it as a “rarest of rare” case. He said that the judge, after thoroughly examining the evidence and listening to extensive arguments from both the prosecution and the defence, delivered the verdict.
The trial initially commenced in the court of the special judge for dacoity-affected (DAA) areas in Mainpuri but was later shifted to a sessions court in Allahabad, where witness testimonies were recorded.
In December 2024, the trial records were transferred back from the Allahabad sessions court to special judge (DAA) Singh for a final decision, Shukla added.
Throughout the proceedings, 13 out of the 17 accused, including Santosh and Radhey, passed away, while one remained untraceable.
Following the tragedy, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the affected families, while opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee led a pad yatra from Dihuli to Sadupur in Firozabad to express solidarity with the grieving families.
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