Muzaffarnagar riots: Seven get life term for boys’ killing

muzaffarnagar — An Indian court on Friday sentenced seven people to life in prison for the murder of two men in 2013 in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, an incident that had sparked religious riots killing about 65 people and displacing thousands.

They were accused of killing two youngsters, Gaurav and Sachin, in 2013 in Kawal in Muzaffarnagar.

The riots began in the district of Muzaffarnagar, 130 km (81 miles) northeast of New Delhi, and spread to other areas in the country’s most populous state months before the 2014 election won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs200,000 each on the accused. Eighty per cent of the fine would be given to the affected families.

The sentence was pronounced by additional district judge Himanshu Bhatnagar.

When the lifer was handed out to the accused, the court was packed and heavy security deployment had been made by the local district administration.

Officials said that Sachin and his maternal brother Gaurav were lynched in Malikpura locality of Kawal on August 27, 2013, which triggered riots in western UP, leading to an unprecedented communal tension between the Jats and Muslims in the region. Sixty three people had lost their lives and more than 50,000 people had migrated to safer places.

Gaurav’s father Ravindra had filed a police complaint against the seven accused, including Shahnawaz, who was also killed in the violence. The accused Mujassim, Muzammil, Furkan, Jehangir, Nadeem, Iqbal and Afzal have been convicted on charges of attacking to kill, threatening to murder and gathering against law and rules.

Families of the accused have termed the court’s decision as a “judgment of Allah” while the families of Gaurav and Sachin have welcomed the judgement. —