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| Sunday, 15 August 2004 |
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India carries out first execution in more than a decade CALCUTTA, Aug 14 (AFP) A convicted rapist and murderer became the first man to be executed in India in more than a decade when he was hanged at a jail here early Saturday as human rights activists protested outside. Apartment guard Dhananjoy Chatterjee, 42, was executed at 4:30 am (2300 GMT Friday), a jail official told reporters outside the prison. He had been sentenced to death in 1991 for the rape and murder of a teenage schoolgirl the previous year. Hundreds of people, including human rights activists, gathered during the night outside the Calcutta prison to hold a vigil and protest the execution as about 200 policemen stood guard. Some of the protesters carried banners which read "Stop capital punishment" and "Abolish the death penalty". Human rights activists also held candlelight vigils in a number of other centres, including the southern city of Bangalore, to mark their opposition to capital punishment. India's Supreme Court authorises executions only rarely and they are regularly delayed indefinitely or commuted by the president. The government is also guarded about disclosing its death penalty records. |
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