The Ahmednagar incident was a case of honour killings

Five years after the deaths of three Dalit youths in a case of ‘honour’ killing in Ahmednagar’s Sonai village, the Nashik sessions court on Saturday sentenced six people to death.

The court had last week convicted six of the seven accused for the murder of Sachin Gharu (24), Sandeep Thanvar (25) and Rahul Kandare (20) on January 1, 2013. Their mutilated body parts were found in a septic tank.

The victims were sweepers at Trimurti Pavan Pratishthan School and College in Ahmednagar’s Nevasa Phata. Sachin was in a relationship with a student of the college, who was from the Maratha community. Police said that the victims were the sole breadwinners of their families and belonged to the backward Mehtar (Bhangi) community.

On January 1, the Darandale family asked Sachin, Sandeep and Rahul to clean the septic tank in their house in Sonai village, which is 30 km from the college. They were hacked to death there between 3.30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Those found guilty and sentenced to death on Staurday are Ramesh Darandale (43), Prakash Darandale (38) and Ragunath Darandale alias Popat (52), Ganesh alias Praveen Darandale (23), Sandeep Kurhe (37) and Ashok Phalke (44).

The police said that Ramesh and Prakash reported that Sandeep allegedly drowned while cleaning the septic tank. When the police pulled his body out, they noticed that Sandeep was six-foot tall and the tank barely contained two feet of water. Ramesh later changed his version and alleged that Sachin and Rahul murdered Sandeep and fled after dumping the body in the tank. The police found Sachin’s decapitated body and severed limbs in a nearby well. Rahul’s mutilated body was also found with severe wounds in the head.

After the six were held guilty, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, told reporters last week that, “ Persons who arrogantly flaunt the superiority of their caste by keeping up an unfair status quo through means of violence and other means of spreading hatred should not be allowed to roam scot-free.”

He had urged the court to award the death penalty to the six convicts.

Mr. Nikam said, “The murders are a blot on humanity and a cruel reminder of prevailing caste prejudices. A conspiracy was hatched by the Darandales [who belong to the Maratha community] and the plan was carried out with incredible brutality just because a boy from backward caste fell in love with a girl from a higher caste.”

The murders are a blot on humanity and a cruel reminder of prevailing caste prejudices.

Ujjwal Nikam

Special Public Prosecutor