Delhi HC holds 33 guilty of Mirchpur Dalit killings

The Delhi High Court on Friday reversed the acquittal of 20 accused in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killing case but upheld the conviction of 13 others by the trial court.

A Bench of Justices S Muralidhar and IS Mehta also enhanced the punishment of some of the convicts for immolating 60-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Mirchpur village in Haryana’s Hisar district in 2010. The violence had triggered displacement of 254 Dalit families from Mirchpur village.

The trial court had held 15 out of 97 accused guilty in the case. Two convicts died during the pendency of the appeal in the HC. The Bench directed convicts to surrender before September 1.

Pointing fault in the trial court judge’s finding, the HC observed, “This court is unable to understand the conclusions drawn by the trial court with regard to the selective targeting of the houses of the Valmikis.”

The HC called the violence a premeditated attack by Jats against Valmikis.

 With Friday’s verdict, 12 out of 33 convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment for the offences, including murder, and committing mischief by fire or explosive substance by a member of a community other than SC/ST, intending to cause damage property of a member of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe community under the SC/ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act. 

The HC, which imposed varying fines on the 33 convicts, ordered that the amounts collected from the convicts should be used by the Haryana Government for relief and rehabilitation of the victims.

After a dispute between Jats and Valmikis in Mirchpur village on April 21, 2010, the house of Tara Chand was set on fire resulting in the immolation of him and his daughter.

The trial court had sentenced Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal to life imprisonment for committing unintentional killing, but the HC modified the provision and convicted them for the offence of murder.