Mercy pleas of 9 from state pending

While Ajmal Kasab was hanged at Yerawada jail on Wednesday, nine prisoners are still on death row in the state.

 Their mercy petitions are pending before President Pranab Mukherjee.

 They are among 64 prisoners facing the death sentence in the state.

 They all are lodged in the ‘Andheri (dark) Cell’ of Hindalga jail in Belgaum.

 Among them are four members of slain forest brigand Veerappan’s gang, 11 Dandupalya killers, 11 Bangalore church blast culprits and notorious rapist Umesh Reddy.

 Mallika alias Cyanide Mallika and Lakshmi of the Dandupalya gang are the women facing the death sentence.

 The capital punishment awarded to Praveen Kumar Sapaliga, a tailor who allegedly murdered his 70-yearold aunt, her two children, and eight-year-old granddaughter to pay off his debts, was upheld by the Supreme Court in October 2003.

 He was the first of the nine to seek a presidential pardon.

 The cases of other 55 prisoners are in various stages of the legal process.

 In the last 29 years, the state has not seen any execution.

 Hanumantha Lakshmanappa Mallar, a murderer, was the last to be hanged till death at Hindalga jail on November 9, 1983.

 Hangman S R Kamble had pulled the lever of the gallows pole.