1987 Maliana massacre case: Court acquits 39 due to lack of evidence

A Meerut court on Saturday acquitted 39 accused in the communal riots that took place in Maliana in which as many as 72 Muslims were killed and hundreds of others were left injured. The order was pronounced by Additional District Judge Lakhvinder Sood.

It has been almost 36 years since the innocent Muslims were murdered during the riots that broke out on May 22, 1987, the day after the Hashimpura incident, in the backdrop of Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi dispute. Notably, protests had erupted in various parts of the country after the Rajiv Gandhi government ordered the opening of the locks of the Babri Masjid, allowing Hindu prayers inside. An estimated 350 people died in these riots in and around Maliana.

Yaqub Ali, on whose complaint the sole FIR was lodged in the incident, had filed a case against 93 people. In the report, the plaintiff had written that while setting fire, all the people gathered together and attacked with the intention of murder.

Interestingly, around 40 people have died during the trial. According to Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, 10 witnesses, including the plaintiff, gave their statements in court. However, the prosecution failed to prove the case against the accused. Based on the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence available, the court gave benefit of doubt to 39 accused, acquitting them all.

Yaqub claimed that he, along with five others, was picked by the PAC that had surrounded the village since the morning of May 23. Talking to The Hindu a year ago, he said: “We were mercilessly beaten up and had it not been a generous Sub-Inspector, we would have been killed,” he alleged. He said he was made to sign certain papers that he later came to know became the basis for the only FIR in the case. “Even a healthy person could not name 93 persons with their fathers’ names. How could I have when I could barely breathe at that time?”

Rights activists and Muslim bodies have kept decrying the delay in delivery of justice seeking conviction, yet no one found guilty in the case.

It is to be noted that a day after the Maliana incident, the Hashimpura massacre took place in which 42 Muslims were shot dead by Uttar Pradesh police force. 16 personals of Pradeshik Armed Constabulary (PAC) of UP police were found guilty by Delhi high court in 2018 after 31 years.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM