Khairlanji massacre: Bombay High Court gives life sentence for 8

Nagpur:The Bombay High Court has delivered its verdict in the Khairlanji killings. Eight people have been given the life sentence for murdering a Dalit woman and her three children in a village in Maharashtra.

The massacre in 2006 was believed to be the result of a land dispute with upper castes; described as Maharashtra's worst Dalit atrocity case, it provoked violent protests across the state.

Bhaiyalal Bhotmange's wife and three young children were lynched by a mob. Six of the people accused of killing the children were given the death sentence by a lower court in 2008. Another two were sentenced to life in prison for murdering Bhaiyalal's wife. The court did not, however, accept that this was a case of caste-based vengeance.

In its order today, the Bombay High Court has commuted the death sentence to life.