65-year-old gets life term in 1981 Behmai massacre by Phoolan Devi’s gang

FORTY-THREE years after bandit Phoolan Devi and her gang members perpetrated the Behmai massacre in which 20 people, all men who were mostly from the Rajput community, were shot dead to “avenge” her rape, a court in Kanpur Dehat on Wednesday handed down a life sentence to one of the two surviving accused, now aged 65.

This marks the first conviction in the case, in which there were 35 accused. The court on Wednesday acquitted another accused, who in 2016 was declared a juvenile at the time of the crime, on the basis of benefit of doubt. Phoolan Devi surrendered before the Madhya Pradesh police in 1983. She later became a Member of Parliament from Mirzapur (UP) and was shot dead outside her Delhi residence on July 25, 2001.

 

Must read | Behmai massacre case: Original diary missing, court defers verdict

“Additional District and Sessions Judge Amit Malaviya sentenced Shyam Babu (65) to life imprisonment. After the pronouncement of judgment, Shyam Babu, who was out on bail, was taken into custody and sent to jail,” said government counsel Raju Porwal.

The case dates back to February 14, 1981, when 20 people were killed and six injured in the attack. A case was registered at the Sikandra police station in Kanpur district – now Rajpur police station in Kanpur Dehat. It is alleged that the attack was a fallout of the killing of a dacoit, Vikram Mallah, and a sexual assault on Phoolan Devi.