Neemuch, Aug 11 Five years after a tribal man was fatally assaulted, tied to a vehicle and dragged in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district, a special court convicted one person and handed down life term to him, but acquitted eight other accused, giving them the benefit of doubt, said prosecution on Tuesday.
Special Judge of the court under Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Alok Kumar Saxena, in a verdict delivered on August 7, convicted one of the accused, Chhitar Gurjar (36), under Section 302 (murder) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Gurjar was found guilty of murdering the tribal man, Kanhaiyalal Bhil (45), on August 26, 2021.
A prosecution official said Bhil was searching for his missing wife and was stopping vehicles on the Singoli-Neemuch road while looking for her. During this search, Gurjar's motorcycle collided with Bhil, causing the latter to fall on the road and suffer injuries.
"Gurjar assaulted Bhil over the accident," the official said.
Bhil, who suffered serious injuries in the assault, was taken to hospital for treatment, but later succumbed.
The special judge said in his verdict that the brutal assault on the seriously injured man demonstrated that Gurjar had committed the crime intentionally.
A video later surfaced on social media, showing an injured Bhil being tied to the rear side of a pickup vehicle with a rope and dragged to some distance.
After the video surfaced, police named eight more persons -- Mahendra Gurjar, Gopal Gurjar, Laxman Gurjar, Amarchand Gurjar, Dheeraj Dhakad, Satyanarayan Gurjar, Paras Gurjar, and Lokesh Balai -- as accused in the case.
The court acquitted all these eight accused, giving them the benefit of doubt and stating no authentic evidence was presented on record regarding the video, said the prosecution.
Based on statements of a doctor during cross-examination, the special judge stated in his verdict that it was not proven that Bhil died due to being tied to a vehicle and dragged.
"The nature of injuries found on the deceased's body was not possible due to mere dragging. These injuries could have been caused by an accident or even by a fatal assault," the court noted.
