Hashimpura massacre: 16 PAC personnel freed, victims’ kin dismayed

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday acquitted all 16 accused Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case of charges related to the killing of 42 Muslims who were picked up from a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, with judge giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Additional sessions judge Sanjay Jindal said, “All accused acquitted. I give them the benefit of the doubt for want of evidence, especially regarding their identity.”

The court has referred the case to the Delhi State Legal Services Authority for rehabilitation of victims. All the acquitted 16 accused PAC personnel at the time of the incident.

According to the prosecution, the PAC personnel had come to village Hashimpura on May 22, 1987 and picked up about 50 Muslims from a congregation of 500 which had gathered outside a mosque there.

 Verdict leaves victims’ kin dismayed

The victims were allegedly shot by the accused personnel and their bodies thrown into a canal, the prosecution had contended, adding 42 persons were declared to have been killed in the massacre. The chargesheet was filed before the chief judicial magistrate, Ghaziabad, in 1996. It named 19 people as accused and charges for offences of murder, attempt to murder, tampering with evidence and conspiracy were framed against 17 of them by the court here in 2006 after the case was transferred to Delhi on a Supreme Court direction in September 2002.

“The court has given the benefit of the doubt to the accused regarding their identification and not regarding the incident. The fact that the court referred the case to Delhi Legal Service Authority for rehabilitation of the victims shows that the incident is not in doubt. I will give my report to the government. It is for the government to decide the further course of action as to whether the state wants to file an appeal,” special public prosecutor Satish Tamta said.

The acquittal left the kin of the victims and the survivors distraught while the absolved PAC personnel said it was an end to a long ordeal for them and their families. The prosecution underscored that though the accused have been acquitted, there was no doubt about the occurrence of the incident.

The families of the victims expressed their disappointment over the verdict and termed it “unfortunate” and “denial of justice”. Babuddin, one of the survivors and eyewitnesses of the incident, said he could not recognise the PAC personnel in court as they were wearing helmets. “Only because of this one mistake, this verdict was given against us even though all other evidence was against them. I will consult my family and then decide the future course of action in this case,” he said.

The verdict, however, was welcomed by the accused who said they have finally been relieved of the trauma. “I am satisfied that justice is finally done. We faced trial for the last 28 years,” said acquitted Niranjan, 59.