Qatar: Man awaits execution after mercy plea rejected

15 years after he walked into a police station with a severed head and a blood-dripping sword in his hand, Mahendra Nath Das is set to be sent to the gallows with his mercy petition rejected by President Pratibha Patil.

Das, now aged 49, is lodged at the Jorhat Jail in eastern Assam where preparations being made for his execution.

“Already, we have started preparations for the execution, but we need to get a hangman from either Bihar or Uttar Pradesh as we don’t have anyone here in Assam,” a jail official said.

On April 24, 1996 around 7am Das entered the Fancy Bazar police outpost in the heart of Assam’s Guwahati city with a severed head and the weapon before placing it on the verandah. He was immediately arrested and a court in 1997 sentenced him to death.

Das, in a fit of anger, murdered 68-year-old Harakanta Das, then secretary of the Guwahati Truck Drivers Association while he was sipping his morning cup of tea at a roadside stall accompanied by at least half-a-dozen other acquaintances.

“The appellant amputated the right hand and thereafter severed the head of Harakanta Das. With the head of the deceased in one hand and the blood-dripping weapon in the other hand, he moved majestically towards Fancy Bazar police outpost,” the court said whole sentencing him to death.

Thereafter, a long drawn legal battle ensued, with the now 74-year-old mother of Mahendra Nath Das appealing for mercy.

“I am still hopeful and pray my son’s death sentence is reversed and made into life imprisonment,” said Kusumbala Das, bedridden with old age ailments at her village home in Bohori in the western Barpeta district.

But the victim’s son Amal Das, a businessman, is praying for justice to be delivered.

“I am looking for that day when he is hanged until death,” Amal said as tears welled up in his eyes as he recollected the ghastly incident narrated to him earlier by witnesses.

But the condemned prisoner said in December while being brought for health checkup at the Gauhati Medical College that he was not given a fair trial.

“I have no regrets for killing him as they attempted to take my life. I already completed 14 years in prison. Then why should there be double punishment for me now. I was not given a fair trial,” Mahendra Nath Das had said.

“I should not be hanged as I already completed life imprisonment term of 14 years in jail.”

Even as preparations are on for the execution, rights groups have questioned the concept of capital punishment.

“Reports that India will execute two men (Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Mahendra Nath Das) after an encouraging 7-year hiatus are hugely disappointing, and will be a step backwards for human rights in the country,” Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director Sam Zarifi said in a statement.

“For India to revive capital punishment now would also be bucking the global trend towards abolition of the death penalty, with numbers of executions continuing to decline,” Zarifi added.

Bhullar was sentenced to death in 2001 for plotting terror attacks that killed nine people in Delhi in 1993.

Source: Gulf Times, May 30, 2011

_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Saudi Arabia imposes death sentence for Bible smuggling

November 28, 2014: In a recent official statement from the Saudi Arabian government, the death sentence will now be imposed on anyone who attempts to smuggle Bibles into the country. In actuality, the new law extends to the importing of all illegal drugs and "all publications that have a prejudice to any other religious beliefs other than Islam." In other words, anyone who attempts to bring Bibles or Gospel literature into the country will have all materials confiscated and be imprisoned and sentenced to death. Source: heartcrymissionary.com, November 28, 2014

Iran | Convicted killer hanged in Tabriz. Execution carried out by his uncle, who was plaintiff in the case

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 10, 2025: Hassan Saei, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Tabriz Central Prison. His execution was carried out by his uncle, who was the plaintiff in the case. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Tabriz Central Prison on 6 May 2025. His identity has been established as Hassan Saei who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. An informed source told IHRNGO: “Hassan Saei was arrested for the murder of his cousin and his maternal uncle carried out the execution.”

Oscar Franklin Smith, Tennessee death row inmate, declines to select execution method

Oscar Franklin Smith, a Tennessee death row inmate scheduled for execution on May 22, will die by lethal injection if the process moves forward. Smith, who was asked to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, declined to pick, his attorney Kelley Henry, a supervisory assistant federal public defender, said. When an inmate does not choose, the method defaults to lethal injection. It's not the first time Smith has been given this grim decision and declined. That decision to not choose ultimately saved his life for three more years.

Oklahoma | Former death row inmate Richard Glossip’s legal limbo

Former death row inmate Richard Glossip's court hearing gets postponed, leaving the next steps in his high-profile case uncertain. With his conviction overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the state must now decide whether to retry him for a 1997 murder of motel owner, Barry Van Treese. Richard Glossip’s long-running legal battle is once again delayed. His much-anticipated court hearing set for May 9 in Oklahoma County District Court has been postponed at the request of both prosecutors and defense attorneys, according to online court records. A new date has not yet been scheduled.

Wyoming Hasn't Executed Anyone In 33 Years, But It's Tried

It's been 33 years since Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan stood in his office next to his priest, warring with himself over the execution of convicted serial killer Mark Hopkinson. The state hasn't executed anyone since that day — but it's tried. In the final few moments of convicted killer Mark Hopkinson’s life, protesters converged on the Wyoming State Capitol while the governor stood in his office, with a priest by his side. The state of Wyoming executed Hopkinson by lethal injection Jan. 22, 1992, at the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins — 13 years after he was convicted.

Florida executes Glen Rogers

Florida executes suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of 2 he had met at a bar.

Indiana man set for execution in state's second since 2009

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2000 killing of a police officer is set to receive a lethal injection early Tuesday - the hour of sunrise - in the state’s second execution in 15 years. Benjamin Ritchie, 45, has been on death row for more than 20 years after being convicted in the fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney during a foot chase. Unless there’s last-minute court action, Ritchie is scheduled to be executed “before the hour of sunrise” at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, according to state officials.

Texas Set to Execute Fourth Inmate of the Year

Matthew Johnson was convicted of the 2012 murder of Nancy Harris in Dallas County. Matthew Johnson’s guilt was never in question. On the stand during his 2013 trial, he admitted to the crime that landed him on death row. The attack—an early morning robbery and murder in a populous Dallas suburb—was also caught on camera. Johnson is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on May 20, exactly 13 years to the day after he robbed a Fina Whip-In convenience store in Garland and set the store clerk on fire. Johnson was convicted of the murder of Nancy Harris, the 76-year-old clerk.

Execution methods used in the US today: The promise of a quick and painless death

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The practice of execution has been around since the days of ancient civilisations, and, as uncomfortable as it may be to think about, this punishment is still handed out in various countries around the world today. Capital punishment for murder was suspended in the UK as recently as 1965, within living memory. Peter Anthony Allen and Gwynne Owen Evans became the last prisoners to be executed on British soil on August 13, 1964, with the pair hanged at separate prisons in Manchester and Liverpool for the murder of John Alan West. Since then, there have been frequent calls to bring back the death penalty, which some supporters believe to be an effective deterrent against the most despicable crimes. Those on the other side of the debate believe capital punishment to be an inhumane measure, often citing the numerous instances where convicts have faced agonising deaths.

Iran | Singer Amirhossein Tataloo at Grave Risk of Execution for Blasphemy

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 17, 2025: Asghar Jahangir, Iran’s Judiciary spokesman announced today that the blasphemy death conviction of Amirhossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, has been upheld by the Supreme Court and sent for enforcement. The singer’s defence lawyer, Majid Naghshi, previously reported filing a judicial review request. Reiterating its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances, Iran Human Rights considers the use of this inhumane punishment for charges such as blasphemy to be a flagrant violation of international human rights law and calls on civil society and the international community not remain silent about Amirhossein Maghsoudlou’s death penalty.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog