India\'s man sentenced over anti-Sikh riots in 1984

India's man sentenced over anti-Sikh riots in 1984

Relatives of victims of the 1984 riots hold placards demanding justice during a rally in Delhi, India. Photo: October 2018 Image copyright AFP/Getty Images
Image caption Relatives of the victims have been staging protests, demanding justice

A court in India has sentenced a man to death over a 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left nearly 3,000 people dead.

Yashpal Singh was earlier found guilty of killing two Sikh men in Delhi. Another man, Naresh Sherawat, was given life imprisonment.

Sikhs were targeted in the capital and elsewhere after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by one of her Sikh bodyguards.

Relatives of the victims rejoiced when the judge read out the sentence.

The two convicts were also fined by the court in Delhi.

The two Sikh men who were killed in November 1984 were Hardev Singh, 24, and Avtar Singh, 26.

Image copyright AFP/Getti Images
Image caption Indira Ghandi's assassination triggered attacks on Sikhs and their properties across India

The anti-Sikh violence lasted three days. Sikh activists accuse leaders of Mrs Gandhi's Congress party of fanning the violence.

Few have been brought to justice over the killings.