Chandigarh: A court in Haryana sentenced 16 people to life imprisonment in a 2020 case in which two family members died following a clash over Holi rituals.
The court of additional sessions judge K P Singh in Bhiwani district also held them guilty for rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint while imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 each on them. An altercation took place on March 9, 2020, between two groups over Holi celebrations and escalated into a fight in which the duo, including a woman, were killed. The incident took place in Bawani Khera in Bhiwani district.
In a statement to police, complainant Ajay Kumar said an altercation took place with Suresh -- one of the convicts -- but the situation was diffused after the intervention of villagers.
Later, Suresh and some other people started quarrelling with Ajay's uncle Jagdish. After hearing the commotion, Kumar, along with his family members, intervened but they were attacked with sticks, knives and swords.
According to the complaint filed by Kumar, his cousin Manbir and his aunt Suresh Devi died in the incident.
Police initially booked Suresh and five others in the case but later 10 more people were booked. All of them are in the age group of 24 to 65.
The court in its November 29 order said, “Though, in the instant case prosecution is not required to prove motive as there is direct evidence against the accused. Even otherwise it is evident that the accused party had motive to cause injuries to the complainant party as initially an altercation took place between complainant party and accused party at the time of Holika Dahan but matter was pacified due to intervention of other villagers. Accused have failed to prove that they were falsely implicated in the present case." Those held guilty were identified as Suresh, Ramesh, Monu, Baljeet, Suraj, Mukesh, Anil, Sanjay, Krishna, Ajay, Sonu, Sunil, Murti, Sonu, Sandeep and Sanjay. All of them are residents of Bawani Khera.
They were convicted under section 148 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
"All the substantive sentences shall run concurrently. The period of custody undergone by convict during investigation and trial be set off against the substantive sentence awarded to them,” said the order.
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