Hashimpura Massacre – 16 Ex-Cops get Life Term for Killing 42 People in 1987

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has overturned the judgment of the trial court in the Hashimpura massacre case. The high court has sentenced 16 former policemen of Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) to life imprisonment for killing 42 people. The mass murder took place 31 years ago at Hashimpura near Meerut. All the victims were Muslims. The killings took place on May 2, 1987, and 19 PAC personnel were made accused in the primary trial that took place at the Tees Hazari Court in Delhi.  
Three accused died during the trial. The trial court ruled in 2015 that killings took place, but the accused could not be proven guilty of the crime. They were acquitted by the court. The Delhi High Court bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel reversed the trial court’s verdict. All 16 former PAC personnel were held guilty of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and destruction of evidence. The high court termed the massacre “targeted killing” of unarmed and defenceless people by the police. The court imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the convicts.
 (Extracted from indiatoday.in)