Indian courts routinely overturn convictions in caste massacres for lack of evidence

Evidence

In 2012, the Patna High Court acquitted all the accused. On 1 December 1997, the Ranveer Sena massacred fifty-eight Dalits in Laxmanpur Bathe village, also in Bihar. In April 2010, the trial court convicted all the twenty-six accused. It sentenced ten of them to life imprisonment and sixteen to death. In October 2013, the Patna High Court suspended the conviction of all twenty-six accused, saying the prosecution had not produced any evidence to guarantee any punishment at all. — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 447

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why did higher courts so consistently reverse or acquit in these high-profile caste-massacre convictions — procedural failure, witness intimidation, or bias?