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Prez Kovind rejects first mercy petition

New Delhi: President Ramnath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of a convict involved in a gruesome murder in Bihar.
This is the first mercy petition to be rejected by the 14th President.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had sent the mercy petition to the President House in July. Former President Pranab Mukherjee could not take any decision on the petition as the election process for the office of 14th President was going on at that time.
Before the current mercy petition, the former President had disposed of all pending petitions before the commencement of the election of the office of President. Now, the jail authorities have started the procedure to hang the person. The story first appeared in Millennium Post earlier.
According to the prosecution, the bone-chilling incident took place on the night of December 31, 2005, when the accused burnt the house of one Vijendra Mahato for refusing to withdraw a criminal case lodged against Jagat Rai, Wazir Rai and Ajay Rai, accusing them of taking away his buffalo.
Mahato had been apparently receiving threats from Jagat Rai regularly. He had informed the local police station about it seeking protection but the officer-in-charge refused to take any action.
On that night the killers did not allow Mahato's family members to escape as they stood guard outside the house after bolting the door from outside. Though villagers watched the crime with horror, no one dared intervene as the marauders opened fire and exploded bombs to scare them away and left the spot only after the house was reduced to ashes.
Mahato's wife Baby Devi, sons Suraj, Anil and Rajesh and daughters Poonam and Neelam were roasted alive in the blaze. Mahato escaped with serious burn injuries, but succumbed later. Before dying, however, he had deposed in the court.
The Supreme court on 9 September 2013, confirmed the death penalty awarded to Ajay Rai and Wazir Rai and commuted the sentence to life imprisonment for the third accused.
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