Dhule lynching: 7 sentenced to life, 28 acquitted for killing nomadic men over suspicion of child kidnapping

A sessions court in Maharashtra’s Dhule district on Monday sentenced seven men to life imprisonment for lynching five men belonging to the nomadic community Nath Panthi Davari Gosavi over rumours on social media about child kidnappers in 2018.While 35 people were booked in the case, the court did not find evidence against 28 and acquitted them. The other seven men were found guilty of charges of murder, unlawful assembly, assault and use of criminal force on a public servant performing public duty under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. They were also directed to pay a fine of Rs 10,000.Also Read | Dhule lynching: Mob wanted to kill and burn bodies on the spot, say policeThose convicted have been identified as Maharu Pawar, Dashrath Pimpalse, Hiralal Gawli, Gulab Padvi, Yuvraj Chaure, Motilal Sabale and Kalu Gavit. On July 1, 2018, five men belonging to Nath Panthi Davari Gosavi were searching for livelihood in Rainpada village of the Dhule district. A mob attacked them, suspecting them to be child kidnappers due to misinformation on social media. The five were locked in the village’s gram panchayat office and assaulted till their death The prosecution submitted that the victims were assaulted with iron rods, stones, bricks, wooden logs and planks, which clearly showed the intention to kill. Among those acquitted were the accused who were granted bail by the Bombay High Court and the sessions court in 2019. They had submitted that the allegations against them were not of assaulting the victims but of obstructing a police team at the time of the attack.The detailed order was yet to be made available.