Won't lose hope… will go up to SC, says man who lost sons in 2020 Northeast Delhi riots
Babu Khan's (60) life changed forever five years ago.
It was in February 2020, when both his sons, Hashim Ali Khan and Aamir Khan, were killed in the Northeast Delhi riots. Five years later, citing insufficient evidence, a Delhi court on April 30 acquitted 12 men allegedly involved in Hashim's killing. The case related to Aamir's killing is still pending before the court.
'His (Hashim) five-year-old daughter still asks me when her father will come home. What do I tell her?' asked Babu, who has difficulty breathing. 'I have been sick for a year. I can't work. My two children were my only hope. No doctor has been able to detect what is wrong with me… my lungs feel heavy,' he added.
'Will we ever get justice, I wonder,' said Babu, who stays at Old Mustafabad in Northeast Delhi.
'We are disappointed, but we will not lose hope. We will go to the High Court, even the Supreme Court,' he added.
Representing the state, the special public prosecutor had relied on WhatsApp chats from a group in which the accused made 'extra-judicial confessions'. Referring to these chats, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala of Karkar-dooma Court, in his April 30 order, noted: 'Such posts/messages may be put in the group solely with intention of becoming hero in the estimation of other members of the group and it could be a boast also, without truth.'
Noting that except for one witness none supported the case of the prosecution, the court acquitted the 12 accused in the case.
In all, nine cases were lodged at Gokulpuri police station against these accused for the murder of nine men. Of the nine cases, while five have ended in acquittals, two are at the stage of final arguments, and in two others, statements of the accused are being heard. All judgments are expected to come by June 4.
'Three of the accused spent six months in jail… the rest spent from three-and-a-half years to four-and-a-half years,' advocate Rakshpal Singh, who represented six of the accused, told The Indian Express.
The Delhi Police had filed multiple chargesheets, naming the WhatsApp group in connection with the nine murders. Lokesh Kumar Solanki was the first person arrested in the case. During questioning, he had named the other accused, who were a part of the WhatsApp group.
'Our lawyers didn't do much. They didn't even tell us what was happening,' said Babu.
'Both my sons were killed… I am barely alive… and at the last stage of my life. Who will look after my family,' he asked.
Between February 24 and 26 in 2020, riots engulfed Delhi, leaving 53 dead and over 500 injured, while damaging property worth crores.
Till this February, verdicts have been pronounced in 109 of the 695 cases of rioting, arson, and unlawful assembly lodged by the district police. According to the court orders, of the 109 judgments, 90 resulted in acquittals (82%) and 19 in convictions (18%). The acquittals, records showed, are split evenly between the two communities. In 51 of the 90 (57%) acquittals, witnesses have turned hostile.
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Time of India
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Hindustan Times
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