The verdict has come exactly after 43 years in the famous murder case of village Behmai in Kanpur Dehat, Uttar Pradesh. Additional District Judge Robbery Kanpur Dehat Court has sentenced one accused to life imprisonment. The court has acquitted an accused in this case. The remaining accused in the Behmai murder case have died, including the plaintiff and the main accused Phoolan Devi.
Additional District Judge Robbery, Kanpur Dehat Amit Malviya, while giving the verdict, has sentenced the accused Shyam Babu Kewat to life imprisonment. The court has acquitted another accused Vishwanath due to lack of evidence. 34 people including Phoolan Devi were made accused in this incident. The incident took place on 14 February 1981 in village Behmai of Rajpur police station area of Kanpur Dehat. Where 20 people were made to stand in a line and gunned down.
14 February 1981… The happiness of Behmai village turned into mourning.
On the afternoon of 14 February 1981, Behmai village situated on the banks of Yamuna in Kanpur Dehat was buzzing with wedding songs. An auspicious wedding ceremony was going on in the village. Meanwhile, there was a commotion in the village due to the loud sounds of horses’ footsteps. Three dozen people riding on horses, holding guns in their hands, surrounded the village. Everyone was a dacoit in appearance and clothes. They were led by a woman known as Phoolan Devi. Seeing them, panic spread in the village. There was silence in the house where the wedding was taking place.
26 people gathered near the well and fired bullets.
Suddenly the mounted dacoits gathered the people of the village at one place. The number of people gathered near a well in the village was 26. Suddenly bullets were fired at all of them. Many screams echoed and then became silent with the sound of gunshots. After committing the crime, all the horse-riding dacoits fled from there. After his departure, the village was left with people running in disarray and an atmosphere echoing with screams. In this heinous massacre, 20 people died in the village itself. The remaining six seriously injured people were admitted to the hospital for treatment.
The plaintiff and the main accused had died before the verdict was heard.
There was chaos in the village. Rajaram of the village had informed the police about this murder. On the basis of Rajaram’s complaint, 14 accused including Phoolan Devi were named and a case was registered against 34 people and they were made accused. The verdict in this case came exactly after 43 years. By the time the verdict came, most of the accused including the main accused Phoolan Devi were dead. Some of them died due to murder, police encounter or natural causes. Not only this, the plaintiff Rajaram, who had filed the case in this case, also died many years ago.
Why did the Behmai massacre happen?
The dacoit who killed 20 people in Behmai village was the beautiful dacoit Phoolan Devi. This incident was committed by Phoolan Devi to take revenge for the injustice done to her. However, the people who had tortured Phoolan Devi were not in the village at that time. Actually, when Phoolan Devi was 16 years old, she was kept locked in a room for several days by Lalaram and Shriram in Behmai village. During this period, Phoolan Devi was raped one by one. When she protested against this, she was beaten and caste based abuses were used. She somehow escaped from there. Later, she went to the ravines and came in contact with dacoits and became famous by the name of Dasyu Sundari. He had raided Behmai village to avenge the oppression inflicted on him. In the village, Phoolan Devi had asked the villagers to hand over Lalaram and Shri Ram to her. When they were not found, the people gathered in anger were roasted.
