More on Indian Minorities
Yakub to Hang on July 30, Seeks Last Minute Mercy
New Delhi July 29 : 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon has again in a last bid appealed to the President for mercy, for the second time, just a day before his hanging. His petition to stop his execution on technical ground is also being heard by the Supreme Court. His petition says that the death warrant had been issued to him even before he had exhausted all legal options seeking mercy.
Even before his curative petition was heard in Supreme Court he was handed the death warrant. The latest mercy plea has been sent to the President Pranab Mukherjee who had earlier rejected a mercy plea filed by his brother to commute death sentence to life.
His petition has created a debate against capital punishment and divides the country amongst those seeking mercy for Yakub and others calling for his execution. A two judge bench gave a split verdict yesterday on whether Yakub should be hanged on July 30 as planned. Yakub is the lone convict on death row for the 1993 Mumbai blasts where prime accused Dawood Ibrahim and Yakub&s brother Tiger Memon is at large. Also he has been on death row for twenty one years.
