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Synopsis

In a long-awaited conclusion to one of Uttar Pradesh's most notorious crimes, the Kanpur Dehat District court has delivered its verdict on the Behmai massacre, which occurred exactly 43 years ago.

The incident that took place on February 14, 1981, orchestrated by 'Bandit Queen' Phoolan Devi and her gang, resulted in the deaths of 20 individuals in the village of Behmai, Kanpur. Among the victims, 17 were men belonging to the “Upper Caste” Thakur or Rajput community. The incident is said to have taken place to “avenge” the rape of Phoolan Devi by two other bandits, namely, Lala Ram and Sri Ram, both belonging to the Thakur caste.

The court, presided over by Judge Amit Malviya, Additional District Judge, Kanpur Dehat, pronounced its judgment, sentencing Shyam Babu Kewat (65), to life imprisonment. The other accused, Vishwanath, who claimed to be a Juvenile at the time of the incident, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and on the basis of benefit of doubt. All the other accused in the case, 34 individuals, including Phoolan Devi herself, have died. Also, 28 witnesses in the case passed away during the trial.

The prolonged legal process, spanning over four decades, has drawn criticism from some quarters, with Raju Singh, the son of the main plaintiff, questioning the relevance of a judgment that comes so long after the incident. Singh said, “What is the point of a judgment that took more than four decades? Most of the people associated with the case are dead, whether it was the plaintiff or accused”.

Phoolan Devi surrendered to the Madhya Pradesh police under an Amnesty Scheme in 1983. As per the terms of her surrender, the them Chief Minister of MP, Arjun Singh, agreed that she be kept in prison in Gwalior, rather then being transferred to a prison in Uttar Pradesh. Devi spent 11 years in prisons at Gwalior and Jabalpur, and was released in 1994 without facing trial, as the charges in the case were framed only in August 2012, and Phoolan Devi had died in 2001, as a result of an attack outside her residence in Delhi.

Her release was initially facilitated by the withdrawal of cases by the then government led by Mulayam Singh Yadav citing “public interest”. However, the withdrawal order was overturned by a trial court in Kanpur and the decision was later upheld by the Allahabad High Court. Additionally, in December 1996, Devi’s plea to dismiss all cases against her was rejected by the Supreme Court. Notably, the same year, Devi was also elected as a Member of Parliament for Samajwadi Party.

[Source: PTI]