The last hanging was done in November 1983 of Hanumant Malla, convicted of five murders.
The Karnataka High Court lifted a legal bar on the execution of serial killer and rapist Umesh Reddy, alias B A Umesh, by dismissing a plea filed by him against the rejection of mercy petition by the President of India in 2012.
The culprit had entered the house seeking drinking water and then raped and murdered the housewife. The victim’s son had caught a glimpse of him as he left home.
Though he was convicted in several cases, the case in which the stage was set for Umesh Reddy’s execution is this 1998 incident. The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday rejected his plea for commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment. He has been in solitary confinement at Hindalga jail in Belagavi for 15 years.
Hindalga jail was built by the British in 1923 and has three gallows.
The prisoners, who will be kept in the darkroom in isolation, will be brought to the room near the hanging place one or two days prior to the execution date. The execution will be done exactly during the time given.
The court which originally handed over the death sentence would fix a date for the hanging and this order would be sent to the Jail Superintendent of Hindalga Jail and the State Government.
The State Government would issue a black gazette in which the name of the convict to be hanged would be published, The Jail Superintendent would then commence with the system of preparing the gallows.
All the process will be over within one hour. The magistrate and other concern officials to witness the hanging will come to jail one hour prior to the execution.
