Victory of humanity, say kin of those killed
The long wait for justice for Santokh Singh, who had lost his younger brother Hardev Singh in the riots, ended on Tuesday.
JALANDHAR: It was a long wait for justice — 34 years to be precise — for Santokh Singh, who had lost his younger brother Hardev Singh in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
Hardev, who had passed out Class 12 then, was set afire by his friends Yashpal Singh and Naresh Sehrawat on October 31, 1984. A Delhi court awarded death sentence to Yashpal and life imprisonment to Naresh for killing Hardev and Avtar Singh. The two were also convicted for injuring Surjeet Singh, Sangat Singh and Kuldeep Singh.
Santokh, however, said the court should have given death to the other accused as well, adding the family will file an appeal in the apex court in this regard.
“We wanted both of them to be hanged. It has been 34 years and my son who was then 2-year-old still has scars on his body which he suffered during the riots violence. But we are satisfied with the court’s verdict. It’s not only our victory but a big victory for humanity,” said Santokh, 71, hours after a Delhi court awarded the first death sentence to a man and life term to another for killing two men and injuring three others during the riots in Mahipalpur.
Santokh is the elder brother of three of the five victims in the Mahipalpur case, including Hardev Singh who died in the attack.
He has been fighting the legal battle along with his two surviving brothers – Sangat Singh and Kuldeep Singh – and a neighbour Surjeet Singh since the case was registered in 1993, on his affidavit filed before Justice Ranganath Misra Commission.
“Accused Yashpal Singh was a close friend of my brother and they used to study together at a school in Mahipalpur in south Delhi. Sehrawat was a regular visitor at our shop,” Santokh said.
“Both of them should be hanged to death. They deserve to die for what they did to us. My younger brother was brutally murdered,” Santokh said over the phone from Delhi.
He said they will also approach the court for a fresh trial against one JP Singh, who is accused of leading the mob that killed Sikh in the area. The family left Delhi in 1985 and settled down in Daroli Kalan village in Adampur, Jalandhar.
Santokh was running a shop in Delhi and he called his younger brother Hardev to live with him. He admitted him in Class 11, where he became friends with Yashpal. Delhi Police had closed the case in 1994 for want of evidence. However, a special investigation team (SIT), which was constituted in 2015, reopened the case.
IT WAS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE: SURVIVOR
Kuldeep Singh, one of the riot survivors, said he was only 17-year-old then.
Recalling the day, Kuldeep said his neighbour Surjeet Singh told him that mobs were killing Sikhs.
“We went to Surjeet’s house and hid in a room. But the mob broke open the door and beat us up,” Kuldeep said.
“Some people came out in my defence, but Sehrawat and Yashpal yelled that they won’t leave anybody alive,” he said.