Gonda Court Sentences Two to Life for 2019 Youth Burning

Gonda (UP), June 20 (PTI): In a significant ruling, a court in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh has sentenced two individuals to rigorous life imprisonment for the 2019 incident where a youth was burned alive, according to lawyer reports on Friday.

Each of the convicts has been fined Rs 1.26 lakh; failure to pay could result in additional imprisonment, noted the lawyer.

Two other accused in the case were acquitted due to lack of evidence, the lawyer confirmed.

According to Assistant District Government Counsel (Criminal), Amit Kumar Pathak, the tragic incident occurred on May 14, 2019. Vishnu Goswami and Mahesh Goswami were present at a shop on Gonda's Faizabad road when the accused—Tufail, Ramzan alias Master, Nizamuddin from Chishtipur, and Imran from Khorhansa—allegedly initiated a confrontation. They reportedly doused Vishnu with petrol from a nearby tanker and set him ablaze.

Witnesses, including Mahesh Goswami, Rajkumar Pandey, and Pankaj Pandey, attempted to douse the flames, and Vishnu was rapidly transported to the district hospital. Later, he was referred to Lucknow, where he succumbed to his burn injuries on May 19, Pathak stated.

Following an investigation, a chargesheet was filed against all four accused individuals, Pathak informed.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (III) Rajesh Kumar, considering witness testimonies, medical records, and circumstantial evidence, convicted Tufail and Imran for murder, though Nizamuddin and Ramzan were acquitted due to inconclusive evidence on June 19, Pathak concluded.

The court also ordered that half of the fine be allocated as compensation to the victim's family. Time already served by the convicts will count towards their sentence, Pathak added.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)