1987 Hashimpura massacre: 5 more convicts surrenders before Delhi court

Five more convicts in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case surrendered before Delhi Tis Hazari court on Tuesday. 

Earlier on November 22, four out of 15 jawans belonging to the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (UPPAC) surrendered before Delhi's Tis Hazari court.

The four UP PAC jawans will now be sent to the Tihar Jail. 

On October 31, the Delhi High Court had sentenced 16 policemen to life imprisonment for killing 42 people of a minority community in Uttar Pradesh in what later came to be known as the 1987 Hashimpura massacre case.

The high court held that the massacre was "targeted killing" of unarmed and defenceless people by the police.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel reversed the trial court's verdict which had acquitted the accused.

The high court convicted 16 former Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel for murder and of kidnapping, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence under the Indian Penal Code.

The high court's verdict came on pleas challenging a trial court's decision to acquit 16 policemen of charges of murder and other crimes in the case.

The court also said that the families of the victims had to wait 31 years to get justice, and monetary relief cannot compensate for their loss.

All the 16 PAC personnel convicted in the Hashimpura massacre case had retired from service and one of them died during the course of the trial in the case.