The Patna High Court on May 21, 2021 acquitted 13 persons, accused in the infamous Senari massacre case, due to lack of evidence against the group. The acquittals have disappointed villagers, whose family members were killed in the incident, reported The Hindustan.

In November 2016, the Jehanabad Court convicted and awarded death sentences to 10 accused persons and life imprisonment to another three persons accused of killing 34 persons on March 18, 1999 in central Bihar.

Even then, the district court acquitted 23 accused persons due to lack of evidence while four accused died. As of Friday, Justices Ashwani Kumar Singh and Arvind Srivastava acquitted even those 13 people citing “lack of evidence.”

The High Court said that the prosecution failed to provide convincing evidence against the accused. This means that despite a police report citing information provided by Chintamani Devi, the wife of a victim, the accused Bacchesh Singh, Buddhan Yadav, Butai Yadav, Satendra Das, Lallan Pasi, Dwarika Paswan, Kariban Paswan, Godai Paswan, Uma Paswan, Gopal Paswan, Arvind Yadav, Mungeshwar Yadav and Vinay Paswan were recently released from jail.

According to the newspaper Hindustan, the lower court had sent all records including the verdict and evidence of the sentence to the High Court following an appeal by the now acquitted. However, the High Court held that the evidence of the prosecution did not match each other. Further, it said that the process of identification of the accused is not correct because witness identification in the court does not count as concrete evidence.

What is the Senari massacre?

The Senari incident was the last of a series of case-related massacres wherein the banned Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and upper caste organisations such as the Ranbir Sena were suspected to be involved.

As many as 34 people belonging to the upper-caste Bhumihar community were killed at Senari village that now falls in the recently-formed Arwal district. The police registered a case in Karpi police station based on the statement of Chintamani Devi who has since passed away during the trial.

The people who died during the attack were: Madhukar Kumar, Omprakash alias Rohit Sharma, Bhukhan Sharma, Neeraj Kumar, Omprakash, Rajesh Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Raju Sharma, Jitendra Sharma, Virendra Sharma, Sachithanand Sharma, Lalan Sharma, Awadhesh Sharma, Kundan Sharma, Dhirendra Sharma, Amresh Kumar, Ram Dayal Sharma, Satyendra Kumar, Upendra Kumar, Vimlesh Sharma, Parikshit Narayan Sharma, Ramnaresh Sharma, Chandrabhushan Sharma, Avadhkishore Sharma, Sanjeev Kumar, Shyamnarayan Singh, Nandlal Sharma, Ramslog Sharma, Jwala Sharma, Pintu Sharma , Rampravesh Sharma, Ranjan Sharma, Jitendra Sharma, Virendra Sharma.

Villagers in mourning

Following the decision of the Patna High Court, families of victims as well as residents of nearby Khatangi, Manjhiyawan, Odhbigha and other villages have expressed anguish. The region has attained peace by working together and strengthening relations for the last 15 years, said the Hindustan.

However, villagers denounced the recent order demanding that the government take the matter to the Supreme Court until the accused will be punished. Other cases in the series of massacres were taken to the apex court until justice was declared, said kin of victims.

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Senari Massacre: Bihar Court convicts 15, acquits 23

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Representational picture. Image credit: BBC
 
The court of Additional District Judge-III Ranjit Kumar Singh convicted 15 accused and acquitted 23 for lack of evidence.
 
According to the prosecution, the MCC killed 34 upper-caste people with blunt objects at Senari village under Karpi police station of Arwal, then Jehanabad, on March 18, 1999. The victims were forced out of their houses and lined up near a village temple, where their throats were slit, as per the news reports. Seven other persons had sustained injuries in the incident.
 
An Indian Express report quoted additional public prosecutor Ranjit Kumar Singh, “We presented a strong case with a lot of corroborative evidence. The police filed a chargesheet against 74 people in 2002, but trial against 56 took place while 18 remained absconders. Charges were framed against 45 people. Two persons died during the trial.”
 
The police filed the case on information provided by Chintamani Devi, whose husband was among the 34 victims. The Senari incident was the last of a series of case-related massacres, in which MCC and upper caste organisations such as the Ranbir Sena are suspected to have been involved. The Senari incident took place after the Lakshman-Bathe massacre, in which 57 Dalits were killed in 1997.
 
Seventy-six massacres took place between 1990 and 2000, in which over 350 people were killed. Districts of Bihar such as Gaya, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Shahabad region of Bhojpur were the worst affected.
 

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