11 Muslim men acquitted after spending up to 827 days in jail in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal: A court in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has acquitted 11 Muslim men after they spent up to 827 days in jail over allegations of involvement in communal violence during a Hindu religious procession, ruling that the prosecution failed to produce credible evidence against them.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Sessions Court in Khargone district acquitted all 11 accused after holding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), which provided legal assistance to the accused, said the men remained behind bars for periods ranging from 462 to 827 days before being cleared of all charges.
The court identified major flaws in the prosecution’s case, noting that eight of the 13 prosecution witnesses, including most of the complainants, turned hostile during the trial and failed to identify any of the accused. It also observed that the investigating agency never conducted a Test Identification Parade despite disputes over the identities of the alleged attackers.
The accused had been charged with rioting, arson, criminal conspiracy, trespass and offences under the Explosive Substances Act over allegations that they attacked Hindu houses with stones and petrol bombs during violence that erupted on April 10, 2022, during a Ram Navami procession.
However, the court found that the prosecution’s case relied largely on the testimony of a single eyewitness whose statement was recorded 51 days after the incident without any explanation and whose name did not appear in the original police complaint. It further noted that forensic examination found no traces of petrol, diesel or kerosene on the seized material, weakening the allegation that petrol bombs had been used.
The acquittal comes more than four years after communal violence in Khargone, during which one Muslim was killed, dozens of Muslims were arrested and authorities demolished scores of Muslim-owned homes and businesses in what rights groups described as a disproportionate crackdown on the minority community.
A fact-finding report by the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) later concluded that Muslims bore the brunt of the violence, suffering the highest number of deaths, injuries and property losses. It said many of those arrested were poor labourers and small business owners who had been detained without sufficient evidence, while nearly all of the 45 properties demolished by the authorities belonged to Muslims.
