Sessions court rejects bail plea of Vadaj lynching accused

GNN | Aug 23, 2018, 10:24 PM IST|

• Poverty doesn’t denigrate victim’s right to live: Judge SD Dave
• Shantadevi Nath died due to shock and haemorrhage after being beaten severely.

Ahmedabad, August 23, 2018. Ahmedabad sessions court denied bail to a 19-year-old man who is accused in the mob lynching incident at Vadaj, where a woman beggar was killed on June 26, apparently on the suspicion of being a child lifter.
Refusing bail to Hasmukh Solanki, a vegetable vendor, Additional Sessions Judge SD Dave on Monday (August 20) observed, “The woman who died was a beggar, yet a human being. Her poverty does not denigrate her human dignity and right to live even an ounce compared to that of the richest man in city. The case of mob lynching is too serious to merit any consideration of bail.”
The lynching took place at Vadaj Circle, where four women beggars – Shantadevi Nath, Ashudevi Nath, Liladevi Nath and Ansi Gorakhnath — were assaulted by a mob, who suspected them to be child lifters. They were targeted as soon as they arrived at the spot in an autorickshaw. Shantadevi died due to shock and haemorrhage after being beaten severely. Police arrested Solanki and six others within a week of the incident and charged them with murder and unlawful assembly.
In his bail plea, Solanki claims innocence and he was arrested merely on the basis of suspicion. He said he had nothing to do with the violent mob. However, public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt opposed the bail plea on the grounds that video clips of the incident went viral on WhatsApp, and the event was also captured on CCTV cameras. All the accused persons arrested in this case, including Solanki, were identified as playing a key role in injuring the victims. The prosecution also cited the Supreme Court’s observations with regard to mob lynchings. It was submitted that granting bail in such a case would “send a terribly wrong signal in society”. After hearing the case, Judge Dave said, “No case for bail is made out.”