BELAGAVI, Oct 17 (Express India)  : As rapist-killer Umesh Reddy’s review mercy petition was rejected by the Supreme Court, Hindalga jail officials have begun imparting training to its staff on hanging the convict. The last execution was carried out in the jail 33 years ago.

The authorities have selected seven jail staffers who have been working for over five years to undergo the training and later, one would be picked to hang Umesh Reddy.

For the past five days, these seven staff members’ evening duties include an hour of practising hanging with heavy gunny bags and it would continue till Reddy’s hanging.

Keeping in mind his weight, these gunny bags are filled with sand and weigh between 50 and 75 kg. It is not just the physical training aspects of the staff that the jail authorities are concerned about.

Most often, people who hang convicts suffer from mental trauma after performing their duty. Hence, jail authorities say they are also preparing their staff mentally for this particular job.

They added only after thorough training and assessment, they will select one among the seven for hanging. Meanwhile, 10 senior jailers from Dharwad, Badami,Vijayapura and Koppal prisons were deputed on special duty to watch Reddy’s activities. Reddy has been lodged in a highly secured cell in the prison since the day he was sentenced to capital punishment.

It’s the wish of God, says Umesh Reddy

Convicted of rape and murder, Umesh Reddy showed no remorse when the jail authorities showed him a copy of the Supreme Court’s rejection of his review mercy petition. Instead, he replied, ‘All according to the wish of God.’

Reddy’s petition was rejected about 15 days ago but the jail authorities had not received the official hard copy until Saturday.

Umesh Reddy: A rapist-killer who stalked the streets of Karnataka

In 1996, Umesh Reddy raped and killed a 16-year-old girl in Chitradurga. Now, 20 years later, the Supreme Court confirmed his death penalty. He was convicted in 21 cases, including rape and murder.

Police officials who have investigated the cases involving Umesh said that he targeted housewives. He would visit houses in the afternoon, when the husbands were away at work, and gain entry on the pretext of asking for water or an address. He would then threaten the women at knife-point, rape and kill them. In some cases, he would even tie up the women before raping them. Umesh also took jewellery the women were wearing before escaping to make it look like a robbery.

B A Umesh or Umesh Reddy was born in 1969 in Basappa Malige village in Chitradurga district. He joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and was posted in Jammu and Kashmir as a guard at the house of a commandant. While being stationed there, he attempted to rape the commandant’s daughter. Though he was arrested, he managed to escape and returned to Chitradurga.
Incredibly enough, in 1996, he joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police. The state police were unaware of his criminal background.

Umesh has been accused of killing 18 women and raping 20 women across Karnataka, Maharasthra and Gujarat. He was convicted in nine cases, one of them being the rape and murder of Jayashree Subbaiah, a housewife in Peenya in 1998. He was, however, acquitted in 11 cases due to lack of evidence.

During the course of investigation, police found that several crimes committed by Umesh were not reported as victims feared social stigma. On October 26, 2006, Judge K Sukanya of the Bangalore city fast track court ordered multiple sentences, including a death sentence, a seven-year sentence, `25,000 fine and a 10-year sentence plus Rs 25,000 fine.

Victim identifies Umesh

In November 1996, Umesh had attempted to rape a high school girl in Chitradurga. The girl managed to escape by hitting him with a stone. A month later he raped and murdered 16-year-old Roopa in Chitradurga. In January, 1997, the girl he attempted to rape identified him at a Republic Day police parade and he was then arrested and dismissed from service.

A court ordered that he be shifted to Bellary jail from Chitradurga. Umesh managed to escape from police custody while he was being handed over to Bellary jail. After his escape, he killed an income tax officer’s wife in Bengaluru, a girl in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, two girls in Vadodara, Gujarat, and a widow in Kunigal, Tumakuru district. Umesh managed to escape from police custody six times.

Peenya murder

On February 28, 1998, Umesh raped and murdered 37-year-old Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah, a widow, in her house in Peenya. When her eight-year-old son Suresh returned from school, he found Umesh in the house and his mother tied to a window grill. Umesh told the boy that an evil spirit had entered his mother’s body. He escaped from the scene by saying that he would come back with a doctor. Soon after the incident, Umesh attempted to rape a woman in the same locality. When the woman raised an alarm, he jumped from the first floor of the house to escape and injured his ankle in the fall. He was caught by neighbours and handed over to the police.

Psychopathic behaviour

During investigations, it was found that Umesh had a habit of stealing undergarments of the women he raped. On July 7, 1997, he was arrested by Peenya police for stealing clothes. In 2002, when he was arrested in Bengaluru, he was found wearing women’s lingerie under his clothes. When police checked his bags, they found 18 pairs of panties, 10 bras, eight churidars, six saris, four blouses and two nighties. After the trial, he was awarded the death sentence by a fast track court in Bengaluru in 2006.