A court in Assam’s Jorhat district on Tuesday sentenced one person to death and 24 others to life imprisonment for lynching a doctor in a tea estate there in August last year, PTI reported.
Deben Dutta, a retired medical professional who had volunteered to work at the Teok Tea Estate Hospital in Jorhat, was beaten to death by workers on August 31, 2019. They were angry about Dutta’s absence from duty at the hospital where Somra Majhi, a 33-year-old plantation worker of the estate, was admitted in critical condition. By the time the doctor returned around 3.30 pm, Majhi had died. Angry workers then beat Dutta up and locked him in a room. The state police said that the mob had hit Dutta and even cut him with glass shards.
The Assam Police had arrested 32 tea garden workers for the attack and filed a charge sheet against them on September 24 last year, according to NDTV.
Jorhat district and sessions judge Robin Phukan had on October 12 convicted 25 tea garden workers for Dutta’s death, and pronounced the quantum of punishment on Tuesday.
While 25-year-old Sanjay Rajowar was given capital punishment, 24 others got life imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 each on the 24 accused and they will have to serve an extra month in jail.
The 25 men attended the proceedings through video conference from Jorhat Jail, where they are lodged. They were convicted for charges of murder, wrongful confinement, rioting and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Among those convicted, one person died in custody and the judgment against him was kept in abeyance. Besides this, six persons were pronounced innocent by the Jorhat court, according to East Mojo.
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