A Meerut court has acquitted 40 people accused of arson, murder and rioting in the 36-year-old Maliana anti-Muslim pogrom case for lack of evidence.
It has been 36 years since 72 Muslims were brutally killed by Hindu mob in the small town of Maliana, in Uttar Pradesh, during anti-Muslim violence in Meerut district. A day earlier, at least 42 Muslim men had been killed in Hashimpura, a neighbourhood in Meerut.
After hearing both sides in the Maliana case, Additional District and Sessions Judge Lakhwinder Sood on Saturday, acquitted the 40 accused, PTI news agency reported.
The family members of Muslim who were killed in the violence have said they would appeal against the verdict in the high court.
The massacre took place on May 23, 1987 at Maliana Holi Chowk in Meerut, and the following day, on May 24, a local resident named Yakub Ali brought a lawsuit against 93 individuals in connection with the incident.
The case was filed against 93 people — named and unnamed — on May 24, 1987, and of them, 40 have died and the others cannot be traced, Additional District Government Advocate (ADGC) Sachin Mohan told reporters.
The court, after observing the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence on file, ordered the acquittal of 40 accused, giving them the benefit of doubt.
Mahtab, a family member of one of the victims of the Maliana massacre, told reporters that his “father Ashraf was shot dead during the violence.”
“I was very young at that time. He was killed for no reason,” Mahtab said. He said: “The decision of the court is not just and I will appeal in the high court soon after holding talks with other families (of victims)”.
Another man Afzal Saifi said that he would appeal against the court’s decision in the high court, PTI reported.
He said on the day of the massacre, his father Yasin was shot dead when he was returning home, and his body dumped near a sugar mill.
One of the main accused is Kailash Bharti, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The police wanted to turn the targeted killing of Muslims into a riot between two communities. But if there were riots, why did people of only one community die in Maliana?”
Yakub Ali, the complainant earlier said to The Hindu.
