Pardoning of Rape Convicts by President Most Unfortunate: P P Hegde
Media Release
Mangalore, Dec 29: In the wake of the gang-rape and death of the 23-year-old girl in Delhi which shook the nation, city-based advocate and national president of Youth for Nation, P P Hegde has issued a media release urging the President and the central government to reject mercy petitions of criminals sentenced to death for murders and rapes.
The media release reads as follows:
"Youth For Nation is deeply grieved to learn about the most unfortunate death of 'Damini' in Singapore after the gang rape on her.
Pardoning murder and rape convicts sentenced to death by the President of India is most unfortunate. Former President Pratibha Patil had pardoned 35 (convicts) sentenced to death including 7 (seven) death convicts of rapists cum murderers. We demand the Central Government and the President of India to review all these cases pardoned by Prathibha Patil.
Currently there are mercy petitions of 18 (eighteen) convicts sentenced to death pending before the current President of India Pranab Mukherjee. They include 7 (seven) convicts from Karnataka.
(i) Praveen Kumar brutally murdered four persons of a family in Vamanjoor on the night of 23/24-2-1994 including three women Appi Sherigarthy, her daughter Shakunthala, grand daughter-child Depika and Appi Sherigarthy’s son Govinda. Mangalore Sessions Court convicted Praveen Kumar to death sentence in the year 2002 and Karnataka High Court confirmed the death punishment on 28 Oct 2003. But he is not hanged even after 18 years because his plea for mercy is pending before the President since more than a decade. This is insult to all the women and the people of our country.
ii) Saibanna Ningappa Natikar of Jewargi, Gulbarga, Karnataka murdered his first wife and he was sentenced to life. He got release on parole and murdered his second wife and 18 month old daughter. He has been sentenced to death by the court and confirmed by supreme court in the year 2005 but he is not hanged till now because his plea for mercy is pending before the President since more than seven yaers.
iii) Psychopath rapist and killer Umesh Reddy alias B A Umesh is also not hanged in spite of death sentence by the courts.
These accused committing rape and murder of women and children are not hanged in spite of Supreme Court judgement, because their mercy petitions are kept pending before the President of India since several years. The Central Govt has failed to give any opinion to the President on these mercy petitions even after decades.
This is shocking to all the people. This is insult to all the women and the people of our country.
This inordinate delay in not deciding the mercy petitions has resulted in increase of crime against women.
Youth for Nation hereby demands the Central Government and President of India to reject the mercy petitions of these dreaded criminals and hang them in public, without further waste of time. To press the aforesaid demands Youth for Nation will be holding protests across the country."