Five get life term for 2018 Bulandshahr violence
Special government counsel Yashpal Singh Raghav said those convicted for murder and given life imprisonment were Prashant Nat, Rahul, David, Lokendra Singh and Johnny.
Among the 33 who got seven-year jail term are local Bajrang Dal leader Yogesh Raj and former Rashtriya Rifles jawan Jeetendra Malik, who were earlier named by the police as key conspirators and booked for murder.
On December 3, 2018, a group of villagers in Siyana claimed to have found the carcass of a cow in a field. Alleging cow slaughter, they placed the carcass on a tractor and blocked the highway outside the Chingravati police outpost in Siyana in protest. Inspector Subodh, posted at that police station, reached the spot and tried to pacify the mob but it started throwing stones at the policemen and set the local police outpost on fire. Some people also fired at the policemen. Mr. Subodh and a 20-year-old local resident, Sumit Kumar, were injured in the firing and died.
The police had booked 44 persons, including students, farmers, and right-wing group members, for the violence. Five of them died during the trial.
'The 33 persons were given seven years of imprisonment for attempt to murder and rioting of the Criminal Law Amendment Act,' Mr. Raghav said.
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Indian Express
7 hours ago
- Indian Express
Brinda Karat writes: Harassment of tribal youth, nuns raises urgent questions about minority rights
The arrest of two nuns, Sisters Preeti Mary and Vandana Francis, and Sukhman Mandavi, an Adivasi youth belonging to the Christian community in Chhattisgarh, has been widely reported in the media. I was part of a delegation of Members of Parliament and political leaders who met them in Durg central jail. The cases against them are of forcible conversion and human trafficking. They were released after being granted bail by an NIA court on Saturday. On July 25, three adult Adivasi women accompanied by Mandavi, their family friend, reached Durg station from their village in Orchha, Narayanpur. This was the first time they were travelling outside their district, and were understandably nervous. They were on their way to an Agra hospital to get trained as kitchen help to be employed in institutions run by the nuns. They were waiting at the railway station for two nuns who were to escort them to Agra. They had heard of the jobs through Mandavi's sister Sukhmati, who had worked at the Agra hospital for several years. Mandavi had not bought a platform ticket and was questioned by a passing inspector. This attracted attention and soon a crowd gathered, led by the local Bajrang Dal, who insisted that the group of Adivasis and the nuns, who had arrived by then, should be taken into police custody on charges of trafficking. The Adivasi women showed their Aadhaar cards, which proved that they were not minors. Their parents spoke to the police on the phone, assuring them that their daughters were travelling with their consent. They offered to make the journey from their village several hours away to make written statements to this effect. Thus, no charge of human trafficking was made out. They also stated clearly that they and their daughters had been Christians for several years. There was, therefore, no question of forcible conversion. These are the facts. But it is not facts that mattered. The police control room at the railway station became an arena for open hooliganism. There is video evidence of Bajrang Dal memebers, led by a woman, humiliating, intimidating and shouting at the nuns in filthy, sexist, abusive language. The video shows them beating Mandavi, threatening him to make him 'confess' to being part of the nuns' 'conspiracy'. The young women were taken one by one into an adjoining room and beaten and bullied into changing their statements and agreeing that they were being forcibly taken away. The police stood by while the Constitution, rule of law and the norms of human rights were shredded. Without any independent inquiry, on grounds of 'suspicion' on a complaint filed by a Bajrang Dal leader, the nuns were booked and arrested along with Mandavi. The terrorised Adivasi women were taken to a government home where they were isolated, and when their anxious parents arrived, they were not permitted to meet them. There has been tremendous pressure on the women and the parents to give statements against the nuns and the Church. The women were released after a week of what is termed 'counselling' by the government. Statements given under custodial pressure have little legal value. There are several issues that arise, apart from the utter lawlessness and targeting of Christians by Hindutva outfits backed by the BJP government. This is an attack on the constitutional right of a citizen to travel and work anywhere in the country. Does a young Adivasi woman who belongs to the Christian community have to get a passport stamped by a Sangh Parivar outfit to travel to another state? Why should adult Adivasi Christian women have to show evidence as to why and with whom they are travelling? This case establishes a terrible precedent that directly impacts the lives and livelihoods of young Adivasi women travelling out of their villages for work. A second issue is the nature of the attack on the nuns and the Adivasi women. Can anyone, man or woman, use language that amounts to verbal sexual assault against those in custody and not be prosecuted? This was also a sexist attack that concerns the rights of all women. Then again, the only time the brave Sister Preeti Mary broke down was when she narrated that she was accused by the hooligans of being a 'foreigner' and called a 'deemak' (termite) working against national interest: 'After all my years of work for the poor, for the leprosy-afflicted, in the most remote areas without any facilities, am I to be termed an anti-national termite? My religion inspires me to work for the poor — am I to be punished for that?' We have heard words like 'termites' used by the Home Minister to abuse Bengali-speaking Muslims routinely, as being 'illegal migrants'. Here, we have Christian nuns being called termites. The words we heard joined the dots between that cell in Durg jail and the bastis of Delhi and elsewhere, where Indian citizens are being harassed and tortured in the name of detecting of illegal immigrants: Anyone and everyone who does not fit into the framework of Hindutva can be termed a 'foreigner' and their rights curtailed. The deletion of lakhs of voters in Bihar — mainly the poor, Dalits and marginalised communities — in the Special Intensive Revision to 'purify' the electoral lists is also being done in the name of detection of foreigners. The number of foreigners detected is negligible, but the EC's demand for documents, impossible to procure, has basically robbed the poor of the fundamental right of every Indian to vote in an election. Join the dots of what is happening across India. The horrific aggression and arrest of the nuns and Adivasi Christians is not an isolated incident. To paraphrase what Pastor Martin Niemöller had said, 'If we stay silent today, there will be no one to protest when they come for us tomorrow.' The writer is a member of the CPI(M) Politburo
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Attack on pastor: Sulthan Bathery police register suo motu case
The Sulthan Bathery police have registered a case as part of the continuing investigation into the alleged manhandling attempt by a group of suspected Bajrang Dal activists against a pastor accusing him of conducting a door-to-door religious campaign for conversion in Wayanad district. The suo motu case was registered on August 2 after a video clip of the alleged attack, which took place on April 2, 2025 following allegations over forcible religions conversion attempts, resurfaced on various social media platforms. Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting five minor girls in Chennai The statement of the pastor who represented the Pentecost church would be recorded soon. However, no formal complaint was raised by the threatened pastor till date. Police sources said efforts were on to identify the attackers involved in the incident. The suo motu case was registered under Sections 192 (wantonly giving provocation with the intent to cause riot), 351 (3) [criminal intimidation to cause death or grievous hurt] and Section 3(5) [criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. A senior police officer associated with the ongoing investigation said the pastor was threatened by the gang when he reportedly went to a tribal settlement at Cherukad near Sulthan Bathery to invite children to a summer vacation camp on April 2. 'The statement of the tribespeople at the settlement would be recorded soon for more clarity,' he added. The incident comes to light at a time when the State is going through an intense political storm over the recent arrest and imprisonment of two catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh, alleging forcible religious conversion and human trafficking attempts. The Bajrang Dal and the BJP activists had drawn the criticisms of their political opponents and the church in the name of supporting the legal action.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Suhas Shetty murder: NIA searches 18 locations across Karnataka
Mangaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted extensive searches at 18 locations in various districts of Karnataka in connection with the Suhas Shetty targeted killing case. Bajrang Dal member Suhas Shetty was publicly assaulted and brutally murdered by accused Abdul Safwan and others using lethal weapons in the Bajpe area of Mangaluru city in May this year. The killing was intended to spread terror in society. The NIA, which took over the case from the local police in June, searched the residences of 12 arrested individuals and various suspects. The searches were carried out in Mangaluru, Chikkamagaluru, and Hassan, leading to the seizure of various digital devices, including 11 mobile phones, 13 SIM cards, and eight memory cards, along with incriminating documents. Investigation into the conspiracy behind the killing is continuing, stated a release from the NIA. It may be recalled that the ministry of home affairs directed the NIA to take over the Suhas Shetty murder probe. According to the order dated June 7, the central govt took cognisance of the FIR registered at Bajpe police station, which pertains to the attack on Suhas Shetty while he was travelling in a car with a few others. Shetty was allegedly attacked by Safwan and eight others and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Following the murder, the Mangaluru City police arrested 12 persons in connection with the case. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
