The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has commuted the death sentence of all the six accused in the killing of four Dalits at Khairlanji in Maharashtra to life term. Life imprisonment to the accused in the Khairlanji killings case will be for a period of 25 years, including the time they have already served in prison.
The High Court completed hearing against confirmation of death sentence on April 22, 2010. The case was further posted for final verdict to June 15.
Surekha Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange (45), daughter Priyanka (17), and sons Roshan (23) and Sudhir (21) were lynched by a mob late on the night of September 29, 2006, over a land dispute, in village Khairlanji. The head of the family, Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, had managed to escape and survived.
A Special Court in Bhandara on September 24, 2008, found the eight accused guilty and awarded capital punishment to six while two were awarded life imprisonment.
The accused whose death sentences were commuted to life include Sakru Binjawar, Ramu Dhande, Shatraghan Dhande, Vishwanath Dhande, Jagnish Mandlekar and Prabhakar Mandlekar. The accused facing life imprisonment are Gopal Binjawar and Shishupal Dhande.
Three other accused Mahipal Dhande, Dharmpal Dhande and Purushottam Titarmare were let off due to lack of evidence.
The police had arrested 47 people in all during investigation into the incident. The probe was later handed over to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet only against 11 persons.
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