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Assam court convicts 20 in 2018 lynching case, acquits 25 for lack of evidence
A mob, carrying sticks and sharp-edged weapons, intercepted the vehicle carrying Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das, and killed them
A special court in Assam’s Nagaon on Monday convicted 20 accused in the 2018 lynching of a businessman and musician in Karbi Anglong over rumours that they were child abductors.
A mob, carrying sticks and sharp-edged weapons, intercepted the vehicle carrying Abhijit Nath and Nilotpal Das, dragged them out, assaulted them, and killed them on the spot. The two were on their way to catch exotic fish when rumours of child abductors being active in the area triggered panic. The lynching triggered nationwide outrage.
The Assam Police arrested 45 people and apprehended three juveniles in the case. A charge sheet was filed against 45 adult accused. The trial was transferred from Karbi Anglong to Nagaon on the Gauhati high court’s directive.
The Nagaon court acquitted 25 accused due to a lack of evidence. It will pronounce the quantum of punishment for 20 convicts on April 24. Twelve witnesses were examined, during the trial and eight of them turned hostile, claiming they were tutored and pressured. The defence relied on inconsistencies to challenge the prosecution’s case.
The prosecution maintained that statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a magistrate remained valid evidence. The trial court accepted this argument. It argued that earlier statements of witnesses could not be disregarded merely because of their later hostility.
Special public prosecutor Ziaul Kamar said the court convicted the accused under Sections 302 (murder), 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of duty), and 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Kamar said that under Section 302 IPC, the punishment ranges from life imprisonment to the death penalty, and the prosecution is hoping for a stringent sentence.
The defence argued that the incident took place in a climate of panic triggered by rumours, and questioned aspects of witness statements and investigation procedures.
