On May 8, 2023, forty-two years after ten Dalits were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district for complaining against a higher-caste ration shop owner, a local court in Firozabad has sentenced the only surviving accused, a 90-year old man, to life imprisonment. The Firozabad District Court convicted Ganga Dayal of murdering 10 Dalits and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The massacre of people belonging to the Dalit community had sent shockwaves across the country.
Dayal was held guilty for murder (Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code) and sentenced to life imprisonment, and levied a penalty of Rs. 50,000. The accused was also held guilty for attempted murder (Section 307 of the IPC) and sentenced to 10 years’ in jail and a penalty of Rs. 5,000. “In the event of default on the payment of the fine, the accused will have to undergo additional imprisonment of 13 months,” the court said.
The district government counsel (DGC) appointed in the case, Rajeev Upadhyay Priyadarshi, said, “In 1981 there was violence in Sadupur village in which 10 people were mercilessly killed and 2 people were injured. A case was registered in connection with the incident. 10 people were identified as accused during the investigation. The case was registered under sections 302 and 307 of the IPC,” as reported by the Telangana Today. Notably, nine other men who were accused of the crime died during the protracted trial.
Upadhyay stated that “The cause of enmity was a complaint lodged by a few Dalit villagers against a ration shop owner who took revenge along with nine of his associates and fired indiscriminately at these people who were cooking food in their house.”
It is essential to note that a case of murder took more than 40 decades to reach a conviction by the district court owing to a confusion in the jurisdiction of the courts under which it fell. Advocate Upadhyay provided that initially, the case went to trial in Mainpuri and later, after the carving out of Firozabad as a separate district, the case was transferred to a court in Firozabad. “Following the High Court order, after the formation of Firozabad district, the case was transferred to Firozabad. “The case was transferred to Firozabad in 2021 and was decided accordingly” Upadhyay said while denying to comment on delay caused in the case in past. The case was heard in court of chief judicial magistrate and then in court of district and session Judge at Mainpuri.
“Ganga Dayal, who was the only accused alive was sentenced to life imprisonment and awarded a fine of Rs 55,000 by the district court and sentenced to life imprisonment. This decision will send a message to the entire country,” Upadhay further said, as reported by WebIndia123.
Upadhyay purported that the said case of mass killing fell in the category of rarest of rare cases, and therefore, Ganga Dayal deserved capital punishment. Yet, the punishment of life imprisonment was granted as the defence pleaded for a sympathetic view because of the age of the accused. It is essential to note that Ganga Dayal had been out on bail during the pendency of case, and was arrested by the Firozabad police on May 7 and sent to jail after the court’s order.
“The prosecution had proven successful in proving the presence of accused at the site of occurrence. Further the crime was established on basis of statement by eye witness” stated the court order.
A delay of 42 years
The case dates back to the year 1981, when 10 people, including 6 women, from the Dalit community were murdered and two more were injured. The victims belonging to the Schedule Castes were massacred by men belonging to the gang led by dacoit Anar Singh Yadav. A railway official had made the call to Shikohabad police station about the killings after he got information from Muni Chandra, the chief of Sadhupur village. Shikohabad police station was in Mainpuri district when this incident took place, which was later merged with Firozabad after it was declared a separate district in 1989.
A case was registered against the 10 accused persons in the said case. The charge sheet was filed in the Mainpuri chief judicial magistrate’s court. After the formation of Firozabad district in 1989, Shikohabad became a part of Firozabad. The trial continued at Mainpuri court. In 2021, it was transferred to Firozabad court, but by then nine out of 10 named accused had died, said Upadhyay.
Families of the victims narrate what happened that fateful day, react to the judgment
A report published by the Indian Express gave an insight into what happened on that evening of December 30, 1981. Premwati, now aged 72 years, was one of the survivors of this brutal and inhumane attack. She was in her 30s when this attack had taken place, and was sitting in her kitchen with her sons Harishankar, aged 12, and Kailash, aged 8, as her 14-year-old daughter Sukhdevi. Suddenly, two men had entered her kitchen, while a third man in a police uniform had stood outside the main door as a lookout. Premwati narrated, how for the next five minutes, the two men had fired indiscriminately. Sukhdevi was shot in the stomach, Harishankar in the neck and Kailash in the chest and stomach and all three had died on the spot. Premwati had somehow survived, as she was shot in the leg.
As she recalls the carnage, her eyes filling with tears, her throat choking up and her lips trembling, Premwati said, “Everything happened so fast. For a moment, I could not understand what was happening. I was completely numb. I didn’t feel any pain despite being shot in the leg. They just started shooting. They didn’t ask us anything. They didn’t give us a chance to speak. All I can remember is someone saying, ‘Chalo, ho gaya kaam (Let’s go. It’s done)’,” as reported by the Indian Express.
Half of Premwati’s family was massacred that day, with only her husband and a two year old son surviving. After the judgment of the district court came, Premwati reacted to the sentencing and complained that the “main accused in the case died before case could be decided. Is this what justice looks like? I spent my whole life waiting for justice. And I get justice now?”
A relative of one of the victims, Maharaj Singh, said he wasn’t born at the time of the incident but his elders told him that 4 of his family members were killed and 6 others in his uncle’s neighborhood were also butchered. “The conviction and sentencing of the only surviving accused came after 42 years. It would have been better if it had come when the elders in my family were alive and 9 other accused persons were also punished,” he added, as reported by the webindia123.
As provided by the Indian Express, despite the above-mentioned conviction, Jai Praksh, son of Ganga Dayal, continues to believe that his father is innocent. He said, “There may be casteism everywhere, but we do not discriminate on the basis of caste. My father was not in Sadhupur that day. Due to personal enmity, someone got his name put in the police complaint. The administration has put an old man in jail since May 31. We will file an appeal.”
Empty promises, delayed justice
In the report of the Indian Express, it was provided by the families of the victims that after the massacre, the government had promised jobs on compassionate grounds to each victim’s family members, and yet, they have not been able to get these jobs. Mahendra, son of Premwati, who works as a laborer to support his family of seven- his wife, six daughters and one son — said, “I have been trying to get that job since I turned 18. I have written multiple letters to the government. In response, I am sent from one office to another.” Two of Mahendra’s siblings — a brother and a sister who were born after the shooting — too failed to secure the promised job.
Another family member of the victim, Ram Naresh whose 60-year-old grandmother Chameli Devi was gunned down that day, provided that his father died last year and with him died the fight for the promised job on compassionate grounds. Ram Naresh said his father was appointed as a peon for just one year, as provided by the Indian Express. “He was appointed as a peon at a regional employment office in Agra (over 80 km from the village) in 1982 but dismissed a year later. No explanation was given for his removal,” said Ram Naresh, showing multiple letters written by his father to the district administration seeking the reason for his dismissal. He added, “Four people were given jobs on compassionate grounds but only two still continue to hold their posts. The others were removed without any explanation.”
In days that followed, Swaroop, one of the main witnesses in the case, spoke to the Indian Express and stated that the village turned into a fortress due to the arrival of state and national leaders such as former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, then Union Home Minister Giani Zail Singh and then UP Chief Minister VP Singh. Two other VIP visitors — Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Chandrashekhar — would go on to become Prime Ministers. He further said that “Since the dacoits had attacked us taking advantage of the darkness — there was no electricity in the village at that time — the government promised the village free electricity for life. The government kept its word for a while. Now, almost four decades later, we are being given electricity bills. The administration has threatened to put us in jail if we don’t pay up. This is like putting salt on our wounds,” said Swaroop.
History of Caste discrimination still continues
According to the report of the Indian Express, Bhagwan Singh was just a toddler when his grandmother Saguna Devi, aunt Sheela Devi and uncle Suresh were shot in cold blood. The 44-year-old said, “This (the murders) happened because of hatred against the Jatavs. Even today, the Jatavs have a separate cremation ground. We cannot even burn our dead on the same ground as the other castes. When this massacre happened, the leaders promised a memorial for the deceased. That promise still remains unfulfilled.”
He added, “The incident continues to haunt us to date. We are victims of one of the biggest caste crimes in the country but the government hasn’t given us the promised jobs. In fact, even basic amenities like water and sanitation have not been implemented in the village. This treatment is shameful.”
Bhagwan further provided that despite the deaths and the said verdict, the caste structure and the environment of oppression and otherisation remains the same in the village even today. Bhagwan added, “Caste discrimination is very much prevalent here even now. Even today, when we have a dispute with the Yadavs on any issue, they taunt us by saying, ‘Bhul gaye kya woh din (have you forgotten that day)?’.”
It is evident from the narratives provided and the details of the case that the massacre was a resultant of the caste based hierarchies existing in our society. Notably, the Sadhupur shooting was the second attack on members of the SC community in the district. According to the Indian Express, on November 18, 1981, 24 people belonging to the Jatav community were murdered in Deoli village, around 30 km from Sadhupur, by a gang of 16 armed attackers led by two Thakur youths wearing fake police uniforms.
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