Tahir Hussain, a former AAP councillor, was sentenced to life in prison by a Delhi court on Friday for his involvement in the 2020 riots that killed Ankit Sharma, a 26-year-old Intelligence Bureau employee. The death penalty had been sought by the prosecution.
“The crime was committed with utmost brutality during communal violence… the barbarity committed is nauseating and sickening,” Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh ruled. “The body was dragged like an animal and thrown in the drain… every one of the convicts pleaded they’re sole breadwinners (but) the monstrosity of the crime outweighs this fact…”
But Singh also acknowledged the prosecution “didn’t bring anything on record to show that there was any violent disposition or propensity” on part of the convicts. “Death penalty is a last resort… the convicts can be disciplined and made to follow rules-based order,” the court said, declaring Hussain and the other nine convicts are not beyond reformation.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, speaking on behalf of Delhi Police, urged that those found guilty be put to death during the sentencing hearing on Monday. However, Hussain’s attorney contended that the death penalty is reserved for “the rarest of the rare cases” and cited his client’s good behaviour while inside.
According to him, death sentences could not be applied based only on the severity of the injuries. The defence, represented by attorneys Rajiv Mohan, Narula, Sonal Sarda, and Shivangi Sharma, also contended that there was no proof of criminal conspiracy throughout the trial and that the police were powerless to subdue the violent mob. On July 13, a Delhi court found five individuals guilty six years after Sharma was slain.
Among other things, Hussain was found guilty of murder and rioting, but he was found not guilty of criminal conspiracy. Ankit Sharma vanished on February 25, 2020, after leaving his home in the Chand Bagh neighbourhood of the city to go grocery shopping. According to the police, a mob pulled him away, killed him, and disposed of his body in a drain. According to the authorities, he was stabbed fifty-one times.
53 people died as a result of the intercommunal violence, including Sharma. A police case was registered on February 26, 2020, based on a complaint by Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who named Tahir Hussain as an accused, alleging that rioters operating from his building executed the attack.
Tahir Hussain, a former AAP councillor, was sentenced to life in prison by a Delhi court on Friday for his involvement in the 2020 riots that killed Ankit Sharma, a 26-year-old Intelligence Bureau employee. The death penalty had been sought by the prosecution.
“The crime was committed with utmost brutality during communal violence… the barbarity committed is nauseating and sickening,” Additional Sessions Judge Praveen Singh ruled. “The body was dragged like an animal and thrown in the drain… every one of the convicts pleaded they’re sole breadwinners (but) the monstrosity of the crime outweighs this fact…”
But Singh also acknowledged the prosecution “didn’t bring anything on record to show that there was any violent disposition or propensity” on part of the convicts. “Death penalty is a last resort… the convicts can be disciplined and made to follow rules-based order,” the court said, declaring Hussain and the other nine convicts are not beyond reformation.
Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey, speaking on behalf of Delhi Police, urged that those found guilty be put to death during the sentencing hearing on Monday. However, Hussain’s attorney contended that the death penalty is reserved for “the rarest of the rare cases” and cited his client’s good behaviour while inside.
According to him, death sentences could not be applied based only on the severity of the injuries. The defence, represented by attorneys Rajiv Mohan, Narula, Sonal Sarda, and Shivangi Sharma, also contended that there was no proof of criminal conspiracy throughout the trial and that the police were powerless to subdue the violent mob. On July 13, a Delhi court found five individuals guilty six years after Sharma was slain.
Among other things, Hussain was found guilty of murder and rioting, but he was found not guilty of criminal conspiracy. Ankit Sharma vanished on February 25, 2020, after leaving his home in the Chand Bagh neighbourhood of the city to go grocery shopping. According to the police, a mob pulled him away, killed him, and disposed of his body in a drain. According to the authorities, he was stabbed fifty-one times.
53 people died as a result of the intercommunal violence, including Sharma. A police case was registered on February 26, 2020, based on a complaint by Sharma’s father, Ravinder Kumar, who named Tahir Hussain as an accused, alleging that rioters operating from his building executed the attack.iolent clashes that broke out in PoK’s Mirpur area as police confronted people from a civil rights group who had gathered to protest police violence in the region. The report referred to PoK as ‘Pakistani-administered Kashmir,’ noting that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent rights body, has called for “an immediate end to this cycle of violence” and urged an independent investigation into the reported deaths and injuries.
A brutal crackdown by Pakistani security forces on protesters in PoK this week has reportedly left more than 30 civilians dead and over 33 injured. The Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) has been leading the protests amid local body elections in the PoK.
Since last month, the PoK has seen widespread demonstrations over atrocities against minorities, alleged political prejudice and administrative indifference, and exorbitant living expenses. During JAAC’s lengthy march from Rawalakote to Muzaffarabad, Pakistani security forces used deadly force on the demonstrators. According to the sources, the crackdown left over 33 protestors injured and over 30 civilians dead.
According to them, Usman Nazir, the brother of Umar Nazir, a member of the JAAC Central Committee, is among the deceased. The polls in PoK, according to New Delhi on Tuesday, are an attempt by Islamabad to conceal its “grave” human rights abuses in the area and conceal its illegal occupation.
