Activists demand special court for Khairlanji trial

Nagpur, Jan. 22 (UNI) Activists today demanded that a special court be set up to try the accused in the killing of four members of a dalit family last year in village Khairlanji in Bhandara district of of Maharashtra.

Speaking to newspersons here, Milind Pakhale of Khairlanji Action Committee, formed to fight for justice for the victims' family, said the charge-sheet in the case had been filed before a fast-track court, which was different from a special court.

The trial should be conducted on a day-to-day basis before a special court, Mr Pakhale demanded.

He said the demand for the appointment of a special prosecutor of their choice had also not been fulfilled by the government. ''We want noted lawyer Shashibhushan Wahane to be the special prosecutor,'' he said.

Surekha Bhotmange (45), daughter Priyanka (18), and sons Roshan (23) and Sudhir (21) were killed by a mob in Khairlanji on the night of September 29 over a land dispute. The case was later handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a charge-sheet against eleven persons before a court in Tumsar.

The case is now before the court of S S Das, Additional Sessions Judge in Bhandara.

UNI