Dehuli massacre: UP court gives death penalty to 3 men for killing 24 Dalits in 1981

NEW DELHI: A Uttar Pradesh court on Tuesday ordered death penalty to three men linked to the killings of 24 Dalits in Dehuli in 1981.

Last week, a special dacoity court in UP’s Mainpuri district convicted three men of the 1981 Dehuli massacre, where 24 Dalits, including women and two children aged six months and two years, were murdered by a gang of dacoits.

The massacre in Dehuli, then in Mainpuri district and now in Firozabad, was allegedly planned to punish Dalit witnesses who had testified against upper-caste criminals.

A gang of 17 dacoits dressed in police uniform stormed Dehuli around 4.30pm on November 18, 1981. Led by Thakur men Radheshyam Singh alias Radhey and Santosh Singh alias Santosha, they targeted a Dalit family, gunning down 24 people.

Chotelal, who was 17 at the time, said, “I was working in my fields when I heard gunshots. Jawalaprasad was the first to be killed. They then went on a shooting spree. Many of us fled to nearby Jajumai village.”

The original FIR named 17 accused under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 396 (dacoity with murder), among others. Over four decades of trial, 14 of them died. On Tuesday, the three surviving accused — Kaptaan Singh, Ramsevak, and Rampal Singh, all in their early 70s — were convicted.

Kaptaan was out on bail and present in court while Ramsevak was brought from Mainpuri jail. Rampal sought exemption from appearing, but his plea was denied, and a non-bailable warrant was issued.

Another accused, Gyan Chand alias Ginna, has been declared absconder, and separate proceedings are ongoing in his case.