A special court in Assam’s Nagaon on Friday sentenced 20 accused to rigorous life imprisonment in connection with a 2018 mob lynching incident in Karbi Anglong district that left two men dead.
District and Sessions Judge Dibyajyoti Mahanta, while pronouncing the sentence, said the court found that the 20 accused committed the crime and that their “intent was clear as they brutally assaulted the two young men until their death.”
However, the court rejected the prosecution’s appeal of the death penalty, noting that the case did not fall within the category of “rare cases.”
“Accordingly, the only punishment this court can impose is life imprisonment with fine for the offense u/s 302/149 IPC… $“Rupees 20,000 (twenty thousand) only for each one,” the order read.
The victims’ families expressed their dissatisfaction with the severity of the punishment, and said that the accused deserves the death penalty. “We are not saying life for life, but the punishment must justify the severity of the crime,” said Gopal Das, Nilopal’s father.
On April 20, the court convicted 20 accused in the 2018 mob lynching case, in which engineering graduate Abhijit Nath (29) and musician Nilopal Das (30) were killed in Karbi Anglong district after rumors spread that they were child kidnappers.
According to police, the incident took place in Dokmuka area on June 8, 2018, when the two men from Guwahati — Abhijit Nath (30), an engineering graduate and businessman, and Nilopal Das (29), a musician — had traveled to Karbi Anglong for fishing and were returning. After rumors spread, an armed crowd intercepted the car in which the two men were traveling, dragged them outside, and assaulted them to death.
Assam Police arrested 48 people, including three juveniles. An indictment was subsequently filed against 45 of the accused, while the juveniles were dealt with separately under the juvenile justice system. The final indictment in the case will be filed in 2024.
“The mob armed with sticks, sharp weapons and improvised weapons intercepted the car, dragged the two young men out and assaulted them. They both died on the spot according to police records,” said lawyer Ziawul Kamar, the public prosecutor in the case. On April 20, the court acquitted 25 adults due to lack of evidence.
According to the copy of the order, the convicts have been identified as Biswaram Swargyari, Dono Mesh, Dipjyoti Basumatary, Banting Basumatary, Pappu Rongpi, Busu Rongpi, Anies Timong, Bidyasingh Rongpi, Ropsing Kru, Ensign Engti alias Sikdari or Sikari Rongpi, Alphajoz Timong, Bikram Hans, Minsing Kru and Rekom. Timung, Babu Singh Kro, Phukan Lekthe, Pres Timung, Ratneswar Terang, Onda Mech alias Jarna Mech and Wares Rongpi.
“All of them were involved and we demanded their execution because they killed two innocent young men without mercy,” Qamar said, adding that they were not satisfied with the punishment and it would be appealed before a higher court.
Advocate Manas Saranya, who represented the defence, said they would challenge the order in the Guwahati High Court. He said that the evidence presented during the trial did not prove that the accused committed murder.
“They can be held at most under Section 304 (2) (culpable homicide) of IPC but not 302 (murder). There was no evidence to prove that,” he told HT.
The case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his duty), and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from discharging his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The trial, which initially began at Diphu in Karbi Anglong district, was later transferred to the Nagaon Sessions Court on the directions of the Gauhati High Court.
Saranya said that 28 defendants, including three minors, were acquitted because there was no evidence against them, and that the 20 convicts did not deserve life imprisonment.
“They can be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment under Section 304 (2), and they have already served a prison sentence of almost eight years. We will appeal this order in the Supreme Court,” he added.
Family members said that the eight-year delay in pronouncing the verdict was the reason for the acquittal of 25 defendants, and this will be appealed before a higher court.
