GUWAHATI: The District and Sessions Court, Nagaon in Assam on Friday awarded life imprisonment to 20 persons, convicted in the June 8, 2018 lynching of two young men from Guwahati in Karbi Anglong district.
The court, which also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of them, had convicted them last Monday but reserved the sentencing for Friday. Twenty-five other accused were acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence against them.
The lynching of two friends, Nilotpal Das, a sound engineer, and Abhijeet Nath, an engineering dropout, had triggered nationwide outrage. Their families, which waited for eight years for justice, were not fully satisfied with the quantum of punishment.
“We wanted death for two to five convicts, but all 20 of them have been awarded life imprisonment. Yet, amid sorrow, there is a ray of happiness,” Abhijeet’s father Ajit Kumar Nath told media persons outside the court complex.
“The court said this is not the rarest of rare case. If this is not, then what is,” he wondered.
Nilotpal’s father Gopal Chandra Das also had mixed feelings. He said he had expected the court to pronounce death sentence for the main conspirators.
“I am both happy and sad. The incident involved extreme brutality. If this does not come under extreme brutality, what does,” Das told media persons.
Both families stated that they would consult their lawyers and decide whether or not they should file an appeal in the Gauhati High Court.
On that fateful day, Nilotpal and Abhijeet had gone to Kangthilangshu waterfalls in Karbi Anglong to capture the sounds of nature. When they were returning, a mob bludgeoned them to death on the suspicion that they were child abductors. The incident occurred at Panjuri Kacharigaon, a tribal village, located around 200 km east of Guwahati.
In its judgement, the court had stated, “This heartbreaking truth unfolded in the lives of two young boys, who ventured out to revel in the scenic beauty of the Kangthilangshu waterfalls, as a part of their environmental study.”
The police had arrested 48 persons and later, three were found to be juveniles.