1984 Sikh Riots: One sentenced to death, another to life imprisonment for killing two Sikhs
New Delhi : 34 years after the murder of two men in anti-Sikh riots, a Delhi court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to an accused and life imprisonment to another. This is the first death sentence pronounced since SIT is probing the 1984 Sikh riots case.
Yashpal Singh,55, a transporter, and retired postmaster Naresh Sehrawat, in his late 50s, had been convicted on November 14 for murdering their neighbours Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh by setting them on fire in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur.
The proceedings of the court were done inside Tihar Jail after the intelligence team suspected that the two accused men could be killed in the court premises.
The Delhi Court also imposed a fine of Rs 34 lakhs each on the two accused men and said Rs 20 lakh should be given as compensation to the kin of Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh.
“For the offence of murder under section 302 Indian Penal Code [IPC], the conduct and unreformed character of convict Yashpal demands rarest of rare penalty.... The conduct and condition of convict Naresh Sehrawat, suggest that his case is not a case where death penalty is the only alternative,” the court said.
