Mirchpur: Court puts 98 on trial

Terming the dominant Jat community as aggressors and Dalits sufferers in the April 2010 Mirchpur attack.

Terming the dominant Jat community as aggressors and Dalits sufferers in the April 2010 Mirchpur attack,a Delhi court on Friday put 98 upper caste men on trial for killing two Dalits in the attack.

I may observe that the context of the caste cannot be lost sight of in the present case and it is writ large that the accused belonging to dominant caste (Jat community) were the aggressors and the victims belonging to the Dalit community were the sufferers, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said while ordering the accused to stand trial.

Besides slapping penal charges,the court ordered their trial also under provisions of the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. This is immaterial whether the case is based on direct or circumstantial evidence. This court is only required to see if there is sufficient prima facie ground for proceeding against the accused, the judge said.

The provisions under which the accused have been charged relate to murder,rioting,unlawful assembly and promoting enmity between communities. The accused,however,did not plead guilty to the charges and preferred trial.