Mahendra Nath Das (circled). File picture

Sept. 1: The family of Mahendra Nath Das, who is on death row in Guwahati Central Jail for years after being convicted of murder, has urged Governor S.C. Mathur to take up his case with President Pratibha Patil for commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment.

Kusum Bala, the 65-year-old mother of the convict, and Bijuli, his younger sister, petitioned Mathur last Thursday, requesting him to submit their clemency plea to Patil.

On April 24, 1996, Mahendra alias Gobinda, then 33 years old, had murdered Hara Kanta Das.

He had chopped off the victim’s right hand before severing his head at Fancy Bazar. He then carried the victim’s head and the blood-dripping weapon to Fancy Bazar police outpost and surrendered before the police.

After the Supreme Court rejected Mahendra’s appeal against the death sentence awarded to him by the Kamrup sessions judge, he filed a mercy petition before the President in 1999.

The appeal is still pending with the President.

“It has been almost 10 years since the apex court turned down Mahendra’s appeal. Since then, he and his family are living in anxiety. They are not sure whether the President will pardon him or not.

“His father passed away while Mahendra was languishing in jail, leaving behind his elderly and ailing mother and three unmarried sisters. Mahendra’s mother has urged the governor to take up his plea for mercy with the President, considering his good conduct over the past 12 years in the Central Jail,” one of his relatives said.

The petition submitted by Mahendra’s family was signed by several organisations in Barpeta, his home district.

Das is the only prisoner in the Central Jail who has been awarded death penalty. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal, observing that the circumstances of the case unmistakably showed that the murder committed was extremely gruesome, heinous, cold-blooded and cruel.

The apex court said the way the accused severed the head of the victim and carried it to the police station along with the weapon depicted extreme depravity on his part.

Mahendra’s relative said: “By nature he was not a cruel or violent person. In fact, he was a helpful and amiable man. He became a victim of circumstances and became a murderer. His mother has prayed to the President through the Assam governor to show kindness and save his life.”