16 Get Death Penalty, 10 Lifer in Laxmanpur-Bathe Carnage
A Patna court has awarded death sentence to 16 persons out of a total of 26 convicts in the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre in Jehanabad district in which a private military of landlords had killed 58 dalits in 1997, reported PTI.
Additional District Judge Vijay Prakash Mishra sentenced remaining 10 convicts to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each, report said.
The trial in the case of 13 year old massacre had come to a close on April 1.
On December 1, 1997, a total of 58 dalits were shot dead by the Ranvir Sena, a private militia of land owners, at Laxmanpur Bathe.
Earlier in 1999, Patna High Court ordered transfer of the case from Jehanabad to Patna.
In the case, charges were framed against 46 Ranvir Sena men on December 23, 2008.
Around 91 of 152 witnesses in the case had deposed before the court.
