Guj Court convicts three men for 2013 assault on Amrabhai Boricha

Tue, 06 Apr 2021 04:10:27 +0000

A Bhavnagar court has convicted three men for assaulting in 2013 Dalit farmer and RTI activist Amrabhai Boricha with swords. The court sentenced them to 5 years in prison. The court acquitted the eight other accused due to lack of evidence.

Notably, the three convicts in the 2013 case, Jayrajsinh Gohil, Bhaylubha Gohil and Virmadevsinh Jadeja are also accused in the murder of Boricha, who was hacked to death, reportedly, by a mob of men at his home in Sanodar village of Ghogha taluka in Bhavnagar earlier this year. On March 2, the assailants barged in with spear, iron pipes and swords and hacked Boricha to death. It is believed this attack was in response to a complaint filed in court against the Kshatriyas usurping his land.

On March 31, additional sessions judge HN Vakil pronounced the three men guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy, assaulting Boricha issuing death threats to him and subjecting him to atrocities. The court convicted the three under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) as well as under Section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sentenced them to five years of jail while also imposing a fine of Rs. 8,500 on each of them, reported Indian Express.

In May 2013, Boricha was assaulted by the convicts with a sword and had fractured his leg. Boricha had also testified against them in court during the trial. “We also submitted papers of his medical treatment after the attack and the doctor who had treated Boricha also testified against the accused. Thus, we managed to prove our case against three of the 11 accused who had physically assaulted the victim,” Bhupendra Khambhaliya, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) of Bhavnagar told IE.

After Boricha’s death, Jignesh Mewani, Independent MLA of Gujarat Assembly, made repeated demands for the arrest and suspension of the sub-inspector accused of killing Borciha. He was evicted from the Assembly for repeatedly interrupting the address of a BJP Minister with his demands. Mewani was also detained, along with others, from outside the Assembly for protesting alleged inaction in the investigations of the case.

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Can detain activists, cannot detain anger: Jignesh Mevani

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 13:39:14 +0000

Image Courtesy:nationalheraldindia.com

“If they had given just one percent police cover to Amrabhai Boricha, as compared to the number of policemen deployed to detain us, he would have been alive today,” Jignesh Mevani, did not mince words as he announced that he will intensify the fight for justice for Amrabhai Boricha.

The independent legislator from Vadgam was detained on Tuesday, for the entire day, along with other activists, who had come from across Gujarat in solidarity with Mevani. The protestors were all rounded up roughly and were forcibly removed from the state’s Sachivalaya complex and taken away on waiting vehicles. According to Mevani, thousands of such detentions were carried out across the state, and instructions were issued to senior police officials to “prevent people from reaching Gandhinagar.

Mevani, and thousands of others have been protesting and seeking justice for the brutal killing of Dalit RTI activist Amrabhai Boricha. Mevani has demanded that security be provided to Boricha’s daughter Nirmala and son Mahesh.

He also announced that the detentions will not “detain anger” against the governmental “apathy & oppression”. He announced that on April 14, Ambedkar Jayanti, he and his group of activists will “free encroached land of Dalits in 14 villages of Gujarat”. This, he said, is a step towards ending the oppression of Dalits, adding that even the Amrabhai Boricha’s lynching was connected to his work on ladn rights for Dalits. Mevani, saluted all those who had reached the Gandhinagar Assembly and were detained, as well as those detained in their home districts. “This is just the beginning,” he said, that the movement will continue.

पूरे गुजरात के हर एक जिले, हर तहसील से अमरा भाई बोरिचा को न्याय मिलने की मांग रखने के लिए जो भी साथी गांधीनगर विधानसभा तक पहुंचे और जिन्हें अपने घरों में , रास्ते में ही डिटेन कर लिया उन तमाम क्रांतिकारी साथियों को सलाम।
अभी तो ये अंगड़ाई है, आगे और लडाई है।#DalitRightsMatter pic.twitter.com/HY8fvWdAmm

— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) March 24, 2021

Mevani, and the others detained outside Gujarat Assembly on March 23, had come out in a public protest to seek justice for Dalit RTI activist Amrabhai Boricha who had been lynched at his home. The last time Mevani raised the issue in the Assembly, asking why the policeman who is stated to be one of the accused has not yet been arrested, he was suspended from the House. Mewani had then said, “Everytime I have demanded arrest of PSI Solanki in relation to a Dalit activist’s murder, I have been suspended from the Assembly. Now, we will put our demands on the street.”

Amrabhai Boricha, the Dalit RTI activist was hacked to death, allegedly by a group of Kshatriya men, in his home in Sanodar village of Ghogha taluka in Bhavnagar district earlier this month. It has been alleged that the investigations into the gruesome murder are proceeding at a snails pace. On Monday, March 22, activists had assembled at the Bhavnagar Collector’s Office to submit another memorandum of demands. Mevani had called for a protest the next day, outside the Gujarat Assembly Gate No.1, from where they were all detained. On April 14, Ambedkar Jayanti, members of the Dalit community are also planning to take out a Lalakaar Yatra, or Challenge March, against oppression by the so called ‘upper castes’.

The post Can detain activists, cannot detain anger: Jignesh Mevani appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Amrabhai Boricha | SabrangIndia

Guj Court convicts three men for 2013 assault on Amrabhai Boricha

Can detain activists, cannot detain anger: Jignesh Mevani