Court awards jail terms to 20 in Bihar for parading Dalit woman naked

Press Trust of India  |  Arrah (Bihar) 

A court here Friday awarded jail terms ranging from two to seven years to 20 people for a woman naked here on suspicion of being involved in the killing a 19-year-old man in August.

Additional District and awarded seven years imprisonment to five of the 20 accused while the remaining 15 were sentenced to two years in prison.

All had been convicted on November 28.

The incident took place in Bihiya locality on August 20 in a red light area close to a railway track where the body of Vimalesh Sah, a resident of Damodarpur village, was found a day after he had gone missing.

The mob, suspecting that the residents of the red light area were involved in the killing, indulged in large-scale arson and beat up the Dalit woman before tearing off her clothes and her naked on the streets.

The five who have been awarded seven-year terms have also been slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 each and the rest would have to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 each.

All the 20 convicts have been held guilty under the SC/ST Act.

Meanwhile, hailing the speedy trial, Bihar took potshots at the opposition and tweeted "it is a fresh example of the high benchmark of rule of law set by the NDA government. All the guilty have been punished within 100 days. But those beating their chests on law and order remain oblivious to the long arms of law".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, November 30 2018. 22:05 IST