43 Years After Behmai Massacre By Phoolan Devi's Gang, One Convicted

Shyam Babu, a member of bandit Phoolan Devi's gang, was found guilty and sentenced to life on February 14, exactly 43 years after the Behmai massacre where 20 people were killed. The victims were allegedly shot dead to "avenge" Phoolan Devi's rape by members of the upper-caste Thakur community. Only two of the 36 accused gang members are surviving, and Shyam Babu was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the other accused, Vishwanath, was acquitted due to lack of evidence, according to an anti-dacoity court in the Kanpur Dehat district.

One of the accused, Man Singh, remains at large and the police have not been able to apprehend him so far. The others died during the pendency of the trial. Devi had surrendered and gone on to join politics before she was shot dead in 2001. 

Phoolan Devi And Gang: Behind The Behmai Massacre

On February 14, 1981, Phoolan Devi and her gang stormed the Behmai village in Uttar Pradesh to avenge her gang rape. 17 out of the 20 killed belonged to the upper caste Thakur community. In the first conviction in this case, one of the gang members, Shyam Babu, was sentenced to life on the same day in 2024, exactly 43 years since the massacre. 

"What was the point of a judgment that took more than four decades? Most of the people associated with the case are dead, whether it was the plaintiff or accused," said main plaintiff Rajaram's son Raju Singh. Rajaram of Behmai village had alerted police about the massacre, leading to the registration of a case against 34 people, including Phoolan Devi. 

The Supreme Court also rejected her plea for dismissal of all cases against her in December 1996. A local court in Kanpur framed charges in the case in Aug 2012. On Wednesday, Kanpur Dehat additional district judge (anti-robbery court) Amit Malviya sentenced Shyam Babu Kewat to life imprisonment and acquitted another accused, Vishwanath,
due to lack of evidence.

Who Was Phoolan Devi?

Phoolan Devi was known as the 'Bandit Queen' whose gang caused outrage nationwide after the Behmai massacre. The public fury forced the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister V P Singh to resign after the killings. In 1983, Devi surrendered in Madhya Pradesh under an amnesty scheme. She remained in jail till 1994 after which she went on to join politics and won two Lok Sabha elections in 1996 and 1999.

On July 25, 2001, Phoolan Devi was shot dead from close range by three masked gunmen in front of her Ashoka Road residence in Delhi as she returned home for lunch after attending Lok Sabha. She was the Samajwadi Party member from Mirzapur constituency in Uttar Prades at the time.