NEW DELHI – In the first sentencing in the Muslim riots in the Indiancapital, a court punished the convicted person with a term of five yearsfor being part of a Hindu mob that set a Muslim family’s house on fire.
Reports in Indian media said the culprit, Dinesh Yadav, was a member of theriotous mob and participated in vandalizing and putting on fire the houseof a 73-year-old woman in northeast Delhi in 2020.
Communal violence ripped through the northeast of India’s capital, theworst religious conflict in the metropolis in nearly four decades.
The prime suspect is said to be the first person convicted in connectionwhile a detailed order on the sentencing is still awaited. The court alsoslapped a penalty of INR 12,000 on Yadav.
The 73-year-old complainant, Manori – whose house was vandalized anddestroyed on the night of February 25, 2020 – identified Yadav along withtwo other witnesses. The case was earlier riddled with contrastingstatements. The court framed charges against Yadav, ruling that there wasenough on record earlier in August 2021.
The court ruled that the accused, who belongs to the Hindu community, waspresent with the armed persons at the time of the cruel incident. He wasconvicted under sections related to rioting with deadly weapons,house-trespassing, robbery, mischief by fire, and unlawful assembly withcommon object.
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The complainant initially alleged that a charged mob of around 200 attackedher house when her family was not present and looted their valuables.
The clashes started in Delhi after the violence between the CitizenshipAmendment Act supporters leaving more than 50 people dead and over 700injured.
Rights groups and several victims have accused Delhi Police of beinginvolved in the riots, as Hindu mobs went on a rampage for nearly a week.
Indian Muslims have long lived on the margins, with episodic religiousviolence forcing them to seek shelter in shantytowns since the Hindunationalist party BJP took control.
