YSRCP Candidate From Mandapeta Thota Trimurthulu Sentenced In Dalit Atrocity Case
Visakhapatnam: An SC/ST court in Vizag city on Tuesday sentenced YSRC MLC and present candidate for Mandapeta constituency in Konaseema district, Thota Trimurthulu, and eight others to 18 months’ imprisonment.
Since Thota Trimurthulu was sentenced to only 18 months (less than two years), he will not be barred from contesting the present polls. The court slapped a fine of `42,000 on each convict.
The court later in the evening suspended the sentence to facilitate the convicts to file an appeal before the High Court.
Thota Trimurthulu said he respected the court verdict but would appeal before the High Court.
“Even after the case was registered against me, I was elected as MLA three times. Some people tried to obstruct my political progress, but the verdict in the case may trouble them,” he said.
The case has no link between Dalits and elections, he claimed.
Leaders and activists of Dalit organisations expressed their disappointment over the verdict, but they are thankful that the court convicted the accused.
It was on December 29, 1996, that then independent MLA of Ramachandrapuram, Thota Trimurthulu and his relatives tonsured two Dalit youths - Koti Chinna Raju and Dandala Venkata Ratnam - and beat up three others - Challapudi Pattabhiramayya, Kanikella Ganapati and Puvvala Venkata Ramana of Venkatayapalem.
They accused the Dalit youths of demolition of the cement fencing of a farm, belonging to the MLA’s relative in the village.
However, one of the victims in the case said they were targeted for working as polling agents of the BSP and that they had opposed the poll rigging in favour of Trimurthulu in 1994.
The special Judge for SC and ST cases, L. Sridhar, convicted the nine accused - Thota Trimurthulu, Thota Babulu, Thota Ramu, Thota Pundarikakshudu alias Doctor, Thota Pundarikakshudu alias Babi, Devalla Kishore, Thota Srinu, Mancham Prakash and Anchanta Rama Satyanarayana - citing charges under Section 3(1) (iii) of the SC and ST (POA) Act-1989 - and sentenced them to simple imprisonment for 18 months and a fine of `20,000 each.
The nine were also convicted under Section 3(1) (x) of SC and ST (POA) Act-1989 and sentenced to a simple imprisonment for 18 months and a fine of `20,000 each.
They were also convicted under Section 235 (2) of CrPC, 506 (2) of IPC and 323 of IPC and sentenced to six months’ simple imprisonment and a fine of `2,000 each.
All the punishments will run concurrently.
The police said that one of the accused, T. Murali Mohan, and one of the victims, Puvvala Venkata Ramana, died in the course of the trial.
Out of the total fine (`3,78,000) collected from the convicts, the court directed a payment of `1.5 lakh each as compensation to Koti Chinna Raju and Dandala Venkata Ratnam.
Since the incident took place nearly two decades ago, some of the accused and witnesses have died by now. The main accused Trimurthulu was elected as MLA from TD in 1999 and 2014 and he lost the 2019 elections. He joined the YSRC in 2019 and was elected as MLC. He is presently contesting the Assembly polls on a YSRC ticket from Mandapeta.
