Tumakuru: After 14 years of legal proceedings, Tumakuru 3rd District and Sessions Court sentenced 21 people, including two women, to life imprisonment for the 2010 murder of a Dalit woman, Honnamma, and for caste-based abuse. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each convict in the case that dates back to June 28, 2010.
The case involves the murder of Honnamma, who ran a small dhaba in Gopalpur village, located in Chikkanayakanahalli taluk of Tumakuru district. According to the police, the accused were enraged after Honamma lodged a police complaint regarding the theft of wooden logs.
These logs were meant for the construction of a temple in the village. Following her complaint, a group of 27 individuals, including the accused, confronted Honnamma, verbally abusing her and eventually killing her by smashing her head with a large stone.
Following this the police had filed charges under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Caste and Schedules Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 in the Handanakere Police Station.
Judge Nagireddy passed the sentence after the prosecution, led by Government Special Public Prosecutor BS Jyoti, presented compelling evidence and proved charges against the accused. The case, which had been lingering for over a decade, came to an end with this historic verdict.
The convicts have been identified as Ranganath GS, Manjula Ranganatha, Raju, Srinivasa, Swamy, Venkataswamy, Venkatesh, Nagaraju, Rajappa, Meese Hanumantaiah, Gangadhara, Satyappa, Nanjundayah, Chandrasekhar, Ranganna, Umesh, Bulle Hanumantaiah, Channamma, Jayanna, KG Manju and Swamy.
The case was initially investigated by Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy SP) Shivarudraswamy of the Tipaturu Sub-Division. During the investigation, six of the original 27 accused passed away, leaving 21 defendants to stand trial.
"This sentence is a significant step toward justice for the victim and an indication that caste-based violence will not be tolerated," the prosecution said.
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