2020 Delhi violence: Court convicts man for setting woman's house on fire, rioting

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday convicted a man for being part of a riotous mob that set a house on fire during the riots in the national capital in February 2020. Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat convicted Dinesh Yadav for being a member of an unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, house trespassing, and robbery.

"The accused stands convicted for offences punishable under sections 143 (member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 457 (house tresspass), 392(robbery), 436 (arson) of IPC read with section 149 (member of unlawful assembly guilty of common offence) of IPC," the judge stated in the order and listed the matter for order on sentence on December 22.

The maximum punishment under these Sections entails a jail term of up to ten years. "It is great to share that the first conviction order has been issued today in respect of North-East Riot Cases," DCP (North-East district) Sanjay Kumar Sain  said in a press statement.

As per the prosecution, Yadav was an "active member of the riotous mob" and took active participation in vandalizing and putting on fire the house of a 73-year-old woman named Manori on February 25 night. She had had alleged a mob of around 150-200 rioters attacked her house when her family was not present and looted all the articles and even the buffalo.

The 25-year-old Yadav was arrested on June 8, 2020. The court framed charges against him on August 3, 2021, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. In July, another judge had pronounced the first judgment in the Delhi riots case, acquitting a man of rioting and dacoity charges and noting that the prosecution miserably failed to prove its case.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi in February 2020, after violence between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act supporters and its protesters spiraled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and over 700 injured.