A local court in Chitrakoot district has awarded death sentence to nine accused persons in a 13-year-old massacre in which seven persons were burnt alive.
A local court in Chitrakoot district has awarded death sentence to nine accused persons in a 13-year-old massacre in which seven persons were burnt alive.
Eight persons had received serious burn injuries that left them partially disabled.
Two persons accused in the case have been awarded a life sentence while two of the accused persons were acquitted for lack of evidence.
The massacre had taken place in Baghehan village in July 2003 when dreaded dacoit Ambika Patel aka Thokia set seven persons and several houses on fire in the wee hours of the morning when people were still asleep.
The dacoits also opened fire and locked some of the houses from outside. After the massacre, the villagers lodged an FIR against 18 named and 25 unnamed persons. While Thokia was shot dead in a police encounter in 2008, three other accused persons have died during the course of the trial.
