The court pronounced its judgment on Monday (16 March) regarding the July 2016 incident. Ramesh Jadav, Rakesh Joshi, Nagjibhai Vaniya, Pramodgiri Goswami, and Balvantgiri Goswami were found guilty.
Meanwhile, a total of 35individuals, including four police officers such as the Police Inspector Nirmalsinh Zala, were acquitted. The police inspector had died during the course of the trial.
The five convicted individuals have been found guilty under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons), and 506(2) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, along with provisions of the Atrocities Act. The remaining accused were acquitted due to a lack of sufficient evidence.
The complainant in the case, Vashram Sarvaiya, termed the verdict “unfortunate” and stated that he would appeal in the High Court and the Supreme Court.
According to the FIR, the incident dates back to 11 July 2016, when Vashram and two of his relatives were skinning a dead cow in Samadhiyala village of Una. They were surrounded, assaulted, tied to a vehicle, publicly beaten, and later handed over to the police. The incident sparked widespread outrage across Gujarat and the rest of the country, leading to significant protests.
