A local court in Rajasthan on Wednesday acquitted six out of the nine accused in 2017 Pehlu Khan lynching case.
The court of Additional District Judge, Sarita Swami, heard the case on Wednesday, for which arguments from both the sides were completed on August 7.
Earlier, six people, who were previously named as accused in the case, were given clean chit based on mobile phone records and the statement of the caretaker of a cow shelter.
The video of lynching was not acepted as proof by the additional district judge.
The court pronounced its ruling after having heard the testimonies of more than 40 witnesses, including the 55-year-old victim's sons.
Khan, a resident of Haryana's Nuh village, was beaten up by cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on April 1, 2017 for allegedly transporting cattle without permission, even though he had receipts to prove that he had purchased the cows from a cattle fair.
Khan succumbed to his injuries on 3 April.
Seven of the accused — Vipin Yadav, Kalu Ram, Dayanand, Ravindra Kumar, Yogesh Kumar, Bheem Rathi and Deepak alias Golu — are being tried in the additional district judge's court, while two other accused, who were minors at the time of the incident, are being tried by a juvenile court.
Rajasthan Police had arrested the accused based on video evidence under sections 147, 323, 341, 302, 308, 379 and 427 of the IPC.
