Senari massacre case: 10 awarded death, life sentence for 3

A Bihar court on Monday sentenced 10 persons to death who were found guilty for the massacre of 34 people in Senari village of Bihar in 1999.

A Bihar court on Tuesday sentenced 10 people to death for the massacre of 34 people in Bihar’s Senari village in 1999. It also awarded life imprisonment to three convicts. The pronouncement of judgment on two others was withheld for November 18.

The charge sheet was filed against 84 accused persons in 2002 and the trial was held against 56 persons as 18 others were absconding. (Representative Photo)

The three awarded life imprisonment have also been penalised Rs 1 lakh each.

Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) cadres had on March 18, 1999, killed 34 people of a particular caste by slitting their throats with sharp objects after forcing them to gather near Thakurbari in Senari village under Karpi police station area --- then part of Jehanabad district and now under the jurisdiction of Arwal district.

The Jehanabad civil court had on October 27 convicted 15 and acquitted 23 others for the lack of evidence. There were in all 66 witnesses in the case. Of them, 32 deposed before the court.

Chinta Devi, whose husband Awadh Kishore Sharma and son Madhukar, were among those massacred by the MCC, was an informer in the case. She died five years ago.

The police had subsequently lodged an FIR against one Vyas Yadav, alias Naresh Yadav, and 500 unidentified people.

The chargesheet was filed against 84 accused in 2002 and the trial was held against 56 people, as 18 others were absconding. Charges were later framed against 45 accused, four of whom died during pendency of the case.