death penalty news August 4, 2004
INDIA: Kolkata welcomes rapist's death verdict Many parents in the city sighed with relief after hearing that President A P J Abdul Kalam had rejected the mercy petition of a man sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a teenager. The reaction to the news that Kalam had rejected Dhananjoy Chatterjee's plea for clemency was the strongest in the southern neighbourhood where the victim and her family once lived. "We are glad that the girl is at last going to get justice. The man should have been hanged long ago," said Mahendra Bhai, one of the neighbours of the victim's family in the Padmapukur area of the city. People of the area had launched a signature campaign asking for Chatterjee's death and sent a deputation to meet Kalam. Chatterjee was held guilty of raping and killing 14-year-old schoolgirl Hetal Parekh on March 5, 1990, in the Kolkata building where she lived and where he was a security guard. He fought his case up to the Supreme Court that upheld the lower courts' award of the death sentence to him. The president had also turned down an earlier plea for clemency. Chatterjee's family moved a second mercy petition a few days before he was to be hanged on June 25, and Kalam stayed his execution just hours before he was to go to the gallows. On Tuesday night, Kalam, after consulting legal experts, rejected Chatterjee's plea that his sentence be remitted to a life term. "If this hanging didn't take place, parents would never feel confident about the safety of their children," said Utpal Roy, another of Parekhs' neighbours. The Parekhs don't stay in the city any more. They moved base to Mumbai a few days after the incident to cope with the tragedy. The school where the victim studied held special prayers for her. "We are happy to hear that the president chose not to ignore the worries and anxiety of parents in the city. The death sentence would act as a suitable deterrent," said a teacher at Welland Gouldsmith School, where Parekh studied. Chatterjee's sentence sparked off a campaign by the anti-capital punishment brigade, but soon enough pro-deaths sentence lobbies also got into the act. The West Bengal government had recommended death for the convict, but several top leaders in the ruling Marxist party had spoken out against capital punishment. Famous Bengalis like writer Sunil Ganguly, author and Magsaysay winner Mahesweta Devi, filmaker Mrinal Sen, actress-director Aparna Sen and many others have spoken against capital punishment. But most of Kolkata seemed to want to see Chatterjee dead. Actors Biplab Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee, immortalised in Satyajit Ray's films, addressed public rallies demanding death for the convict. They said if Chatterjee was let off with a lighter sentence like a life term, it would give birth to many more Chatterjees. A survey by city-based English daily showed that 60 percent of those asked wanted Chatterjee to be hanged. Meanwhile, the state government said it was still to receive a copy of the president's rejection of Chatterjee's mercy plea. (source: Times of India)
