Whether rape and murder convict Dhananjoy Chatterjee deserves to live will be decided by President A P J Abdul Kalam, prayers and pujas are being held in temples in the convict's native village Burdih in Bankura district invoking God's intervention to save his life.
Seventy-year-old father of Dhananjoy, Bangshidhar Chatterjee, mother Belarani Chatterjee, wife Purnima and villagers are hopeful that the President would reconsider his case and commute the death penalty to life imprisonment.
A local teacher and social worker, Haridas Chatterjee, said that Dhananjay's father is very poor and he maintains his family by earning a meagre amount as a priest. His son had already spent nearly 14 years behind the bar and If he is executed, it would be a 'great shock to the old father', the social activist said.
A correspondent, who met the villagers of Burdih on Friday, found that a hushed silence had taken over them following their initial joy after the Supreme Court had issued a stay on the execution order.
A local MLA of the Nationalist Trinamool Congress, Kashinath Mishra, said that Capital Punishement was not a solution to deal with rising crimes in West Bengal.
{{/usCountry}}A local MLA of the Nationalist Trinamool Congress, Kashinath Mishra, said that Capital Punishement was not a solution to deal with rising crimes in West Bengal.
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