India
14 years later, 21 get life sentences for murder of Dalit woman in Karnataka | India News – Times of India
The convicts, all residents of Gopalapura in Tumakur district, were also fined Rs 13,500 each by Judge A Nagi Reddy for the third additional district hearing. Police officials had charged 27 people with murder; six suspects died during the trial.
R Honamma, alias Dhaba Honnamma, was murdered on June 28, 2010 in Gopalapura. Her body, with 27 wounds, was discovered in a drain, sending shock waves through the community.
Honnamma, who had unsuccessfully contested the two gram panchayat elections, planned to build a temple – a move that reportedly angered several villagers. As part of her plans, she had stored logs outside her home, which were later stolen.
When Honnamma filed a police complaint and named some villagers, the simmering tension erupted into deadly rivalry.
Public prosecutor BS Jyoti said the situation took a violent turn when a mob of more than 25 villagers attacked Honnamma while she was walking home from Huliyar village at night.
The group attacked her with stones and dumped her body in a drain. Witnesses, including her close relatives, had “watched the incident in horror and were unable to intervene”. Two police officers, including a sub-inspector, were later suspended on charges of dereliction of duty.
Jyoti further added that there were 32 witnesses. “Statements from the eyewitnesses, including two close relatives of Honnamma, helped secure the conviction. Some villagers who had given their testimony before the court also stood firm,” the prosecutor said.
The convicts are Ranganath, Manjula, Thimmaraju, Raju (Devaraju), Srinivas, Anadaswamy, Venkataswamy, Venkatesh, Nagaraju, Rajappa, Hanumanthaiya, Gangadhar (Ganganna), Nanjundaiah, Satyappa, Satish, Chandrashekar, Rangaiya, Umesh, Channamma, Manju and Swamy (Mohan Kumar).
