Allahabad High Court has upheld the life imprisonment given to the accused of beheading with a sword in a rivalry four decades ago. The court said that there is no relaxation in the law for such a brutal murder committed in the spirit of revenge. Such accused do not deserve mercy.
This decision has been given by the division bench of Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Vinay Kumar Dwivedi on the appeal filed by Kishanpal, Veerpal and others. This bloody conflict took place on the morning of 23 October 1987 in Bisalpur, Pilibhit. Indal Prasad was returning to the village on bicycle with brother Ram Dayal.
Kishan Lal, Bhola Nath and Veerpal, who were sitting in ambush in the sugarcane field near the canal, came out with weapons. To take revenge of the rivalry, everyone attacked Indal 13 times with sword and sword. The attack was so severe that Indal’s head got separated from his body and fell away.
The sessions court had sentenced him to life imprisonment. He had filed an appeal against this. The court rejected the appeal. Said that the attackers hiding in the sugarcane field and waiting for the victim proves that this was not a sudden fight, but a pre-planned conspiracy hatched with a cold mind. When several persons commit an attack with the same intention, each person is equally responsible for the crime.
The testimony of a single witness is sealed.
An interesting turn in the case came when despite the key witnesses turning hostile, the court considered the testimony of the deceased’s brother (Ram Dayal) as unbreakable. The court said that if the statement of the eyewitness is natural. If the post mortem confirms it, the culprits cannot be released just because other witnesses turn hostile under fear or pressure.
Ultimatum to surrender in one month
During the course of the appeal, the main accused Kishan Lal and Bhola Nath had died, leaving Veerpal as the only surviving appellant. The court has immediately canceled Veerpal’s bail and ordered him to surrender before Chief Judicial Magistrate Pilibhit within a month. He has been warned that if he does not surrender, the police will arrest him and send him to jail.