Mirchpur: court directs ‘safe trial’

A city court on Thursday directed the government of Haryana to secure a safe trial for the victims and witnesses of the April 2010 Mirchpur Dalit attack case.

Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said, "The grant of protection to the witnesses/victims of crime is the obligation of the state.”

The court also denied interim bail to an accused, Rupesh, as he could threaten witnesses in the case.

The Supreme Court had, on December 9, 2010, directed that the case relating to the killing of a 70-year-old Dalit man and his physically-challenged daughter allegedly by a mob of over 100 people in April 2010, be transferred to the special court in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the victims have opposed the Haryana government's move to order a CBI probe into the case. The victims' counsel expressed apprehensions about the move.