Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Announcing the quantum of punishment to the seven persons convicted for the double murder of Jat cousins in Kawaal, the additional district judge (ADJ) awarded life sentences to all of them imposing a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on each. The ADJ announced the judgement in Muzaffarnagar district court on Friday.

Notably, the accused were convicted by the court for murdering two Jat youths -- Sachin and Gaurav -- in Kawal village on August 27, 2013, and it had snowballed into a full-blown communal flare-up

in Muzaffarnagar in 2013 claiming around 65 lives and leading to the exodus of around 60,000 people.

Additional district and sessions judge Himashu Bhatnagar pronounced the judgement against accused, Muzammil, Mujassim, Furkan, Nadeem, Janangir, Afzal and Iqbal, were booked for battering the two cousins to death under Jansath police station area and indulging in rioting thereafter.

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While five accused were named in the FIR, two other accused -- Afzal and Iqbal -- were summoned later under provisions of Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code when the evidence of their complicity in the killings emerged during the trial. Of the seven accused, five were in prison since the last five years, while two were out on bail

The court convicted the seven after examining 10 prosecution witnesses and six in their defence. The incident was the fallout of opposition by the two deceased cousins to an instance of eve teasing and it resulted in a brawl and subsequent murder of the two Jat youths.

Gaurav’s father, Ravindra Singh, had lodged a complaint with the Jansath police station. Shahnawaz’s father, Salim, had also filed a case against the deceased youths and their five family members.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) had filed a final report in the case related to Shahnawaz’s killing, while a chargesheet on Sachin and Gaurav’s murder was filed by investigating officer Sampoornand Tiwari.