A Delhi court framed charges against six people for allegedly brutally assaulting a man and burning him alive during the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The accused Aman, Vikram, Rahul Sharma, Ravi Sharma, Dinesh Sharma and Ranjeet Rana allegedly were part of a mob who had burnt Shahbaz alive on February 25, 2020 on the Main Khajuri Pusta Road in Delhi.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Pulastya Pramachal, in an order passed on Saturday, said, “I find that all accused persons are liable to be charged for offences punishable under IPC (Indian Penal Code) sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy ) read with sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 302 (murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), and 395 (dacoity).”
The prosecution said that Shahbaz’s identity was ascertained by matching the DNA samples of his father, as only his skull and some pelvic bones remained.
The judge said that they would also face trial for the offences of unlawful assembly, disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant, promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language.
“At this stage, for the purpose of framing charges, even grave suspicion is enough to prosecute the accused persons for the respective charges alleged against them and the veracity, credibility and truthfulness of statements of the public witnesses would be tested during trial,” the judge said, as quoted by PTI.
The court further said, “The accused persons joined this mob being aware of the planning. They had also done so by being an active member of an unlawful assembly having its common object of causing harm and damage to the person and property of the Muslim community…promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, causing the killing of the present victim.”
The court also mentioned the extra-judicial confession of accused Aman regarding the incident, and said that it raised “very grave suspicion”, and the wristwatch which was recovered from Aman was identified as belonging to Shahbaz in a judicial test identification.