Hisar, August 29
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr Dharam Pal, today sentenced 24 members of a family, including four women, for various jail terms in a murder case.

Six of them were sentenced to life imprisonment and 18 given a jail term for three years each. Those sentenced to life imprisonment are Balwant Singh, Miyan Singh, Mukesh, Sajjan Singh, Jagdish and Sishpal. Those sentenced to three years’ imprisonment are Bhartho Devi, Chameli, Reshma, Ram Payari, Sudhan, Dheera, Tek Chand, Raja, Rampal, Melu, Lalu, Bhola Ram, Ramesh, Sadhu Ram, Des Raj, Kishan Lal, Mange Ram and Satbir, all residents of Bithmara village, near here.

The Uklana police had registered a case against them on the complaint of Mr Bheera Singh of the same village.

In his complaint, he said there was a dispute between his family and the accused party over a 2-acre piece of land. A local court had given its decision in his favour.

He along with the deceased Chandi Ram and other family members was going to his fields to sow crops on July 12, 1998. As soon as they reached the fields, Kishan Lal and his family members attacked them with sticks and sharp-edged weapons. Six family members were injured in the clash and one of them, Chandi Ram, sustained serious injuries. Later, he died in a hospital at Uklana.

The Uklana police had booked them under Sections 302, 307, 323, 324, 325, 147, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

Meanwhile, a local court today sentenced a person to seven years imprisonment on a charge of murdering his wife. The court also sentenced his mother to three years’ imprisonment in the same case. The local police had registered a case against Kulwant Singh and his mother Santra Devi, residents of the local Dhani Kishan Datt, on the complaint of the deceased’s father Sadhu Ram, a resident of Bhapora village in Bhiwani district.