A local court in Hapur convicted all 10 people accused in the 2018 mob lynching case and sentenced them to life imprisonment on March 12.
The court of Additional District Judge (POCSO) Shweta Dixit, after hearing both parties, convicted 10 people of killing 45-year-old Qasim Qureishi and assaulting Samaydeen (62) on a false rumour of cow slaughter.
According to government counsel Vijay Chauhan, the court has also imposed a fine of ₹58,000 each on Rakesh, Hariom, Yudhishthir, Rinku, Karanpal, Manish, Lalit, Sonu, Kaptan, and Mangeram of Dhaulana’s Bajhaida village.
The prosecution argued that the victim's side did not have any enmity against the accused and was seeking justice. They had also requested the court not to give death sentence to the convicts.
In June 2018, a mob lynched Mr. Qasim, a resident of Bajhaida village, accusing him of slaughtering a banned animal. Samaydeen was also assaulted on a false rumour of cow slaughter, but he survived. The police registered a false FIR giving the incident a motorcycle accident angle but after Samaydeen moved the Supreme Court, the investigation was brought on track, Mr. Chauhan said.
Mr. Samaydeen had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 2018 and the top court had directed a provision of security and recording of the statement under Section 164 CrPC, and directed IG (Meerut Zone) to supervise the investigation.
