A week after holding them guilty in the 2017 Pehlu Khan lynching case, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) of Alwar sentenced two juveniles to three years in juvenile home on Friday.
JJB principal magistrate Sarita Dhakad and two members had pronounced the two juveniles guilty in the case on March 5. Defence lawyer Adarsh Yadav said the conviction was done only on the basis of photographic evidence, and added that the decision was made under pressure from the government.
Earlier, an Alwar court acquitted six men, accused of lynching the 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana’s Nuh district, on August 14, 2019, giving them the benefit of the doubt. The six accused were Vipin Yadav, Ravindra Yadav, Kalu Ram Yadav, Dayanand Yadav, Yogesh Khati, and Bhim Rathi. They were charged with murder, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restrain, damage to property and theft.
The state government has filed an appeal against this in the Rajasthan high court.
Khan was attacked on the Delhi-Jaipur highway in Alwar district on April 1, 2017, on the suspicion of cow smuggling when he was transporting cattle bought from a weekly market in Jaipur to Nuh with his two sons. He died two days later, on April 3.
Another juvenile, who is older than 16 years, is facing trial in a POCSO court. The JJB hears cases against children under 16
