Mirchpur Dalit killings: HC rejects bail pleas of 3 convicts

The Delhi high court on Tuesday denied bail to three persons, convicted along with 12 others in the 2010 Mirchpur Dalit killings case.

A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and S P Garg dismissed the interim bail applications of convicts Kulwinder, Dharambir and Ramphal, after perusing the reports furnished by the senior superintendent of police of Hissar district in Haryana.

The court, meanwhile, fixed seven petitions, filed against the lower court's verdict, for hearing on July, 16, 17 and 18.

Fifteen people, including the trio who applied for the bail, were awarded varying jail terms by the lower court for their involvement in the killing of a 70-year-old
Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter at Haryana's Mirchpur village in April 2010.

While Kulwinder, Ramphal and Rajender were awarded life imprisonment, five others -- Baljeet, Karamveer, Karampal, Dharambir and Bobal -- were handed down varying jail terms up to five years for their roles in the offence.

Seven others, convicted under milder penal provisions, were released on probation by the lower court, which had earlier acquitted 82 out of 97 accused in the case.

The convicts, belonging to Jat community, were held guilty for setting ablaze Tarachand's house, which caused the deaths. The incident had taken place after a dispute between Jats and Dalits of the village.