Koppal: Koppal District and Sessions Court has pronounced its verdict on 101 accused whom it had found guilty in the case of atrocity against Dalits at Marakumbi village in 2014, on Thursday. The convicts had also burnt the huts of Dalits and had physically assaulted their victims.
The court has sentenced 98 out of the 101 convicts to life term imprisonment and has levied a fine Rs 5000 on each of them. As three of the convicts belonged to the SC/ST category, the atrocity act hasn’t been applied to them. These convicts have been sentenced to 5 years of jail and Rs 2000 fine.
Judge C Chandrashekhar of the Koppal District and Sessions Court had pronounced the guilty verdict on Monday, nine years after the incident. He had reserved the judgement on punishment to Thursday.
The case concerns with the practice of untouchability where Dalits were barred entry to barber shops and restaurants in Marakumbi village of Gangavathi in 2015. This had resulted in a clash between two communities. Police had visited the village to register a case regarding this and an investigation was in progress. Enraged by the complaint filed, upper caste people had attacked the Dalit colony at night and set huts on fire.
117 people of the village had been booked for the crime. Some of the accused died before the case came to a closure. 101 of the accused had been found guilty by the court. However, the police had arrested only 100 and one accused had escaped them. The police have finally succeeded in nabbing him.
