Daijiworld Media Network – Lucknow
Lucknow, Mar 18: A special court in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district has sentenced three men to death for their role in the 1981 Dehuli massacre, in which 24 Dalits, including women and two children, were brutally killed.
On March 12, Special Judge Indira Singh convicted Kaptan Singh (60), Rampal (60), and Ram Sevak (70), imposing a ?50,000 fine on each, government counsel Rohit Shukla confirmed.
On November 18, 1981, a gang of 17 dacoits, led by Santosh Singh alias Santosha and Radhey Shyam alias Radhey, stormed Dehuli village disguised in khaki uniforms. They targeted Dalit families, gunning down 24 people, including a six-month-old and a two-year-old child.
A First Information Report (FIR) was filed by local resident Laik Singh the next day, naming 17 accused under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 396 (dacoity with murder). Following an investigation, the gang, including its leaders, was charge-sheeted.
Over the decades, 13 of the accused, including gang leaders Santosh and Radhey, died during the trial, while one remained untraceable. The case was initially tried in the Special Judge (Dacoity-Affected Area) court in Mainpuri before being transferred to a sessions court in Allahabad, where witness testimonies were recorded. In December 2024, the trial records were sent back to Mainpuri for a final verdict.
Shukla argued for the death penalty, stating that the sheer brutality of the crime placed it in the "rarest of rare" category. After reviewing evidence and hearing arguments from both sides, the court upheld capital punishment for the three remaining accused.
The Dehuli massacre drew national outrage. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the affected families, while opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee undertook a padyatra (march) from Dehuli to Sadupur in Firozabad, expressing solidarity with the victims.
The verdict marks a long-awaited conclusion to one of Uttar Pradesh’s most horrifying caste-based atrocities.