SC stays rickshaw puller's execution in NZ tourist case

New Delhi, Mar 31 (UNI) The Supreme Court today stayed, till further orders, the execution of death sentence awarded to a Varanasi rickshaw puller, Dharan Dev Yadav convicted for killing a New Zealand tourist, Diana Clair in 1997.

A bench comprising Mr Justice B N Agarwal and Mr Justice A K Mathur while admitting the appeal of the petitioner, who was convicted for the murder on the basis of the evidence of last seen and DNA report, directed that Yadav should not be hanged till further orders.

Yadav, along with four other accused ,were tried for the murder of the foreign tourist after her father came all the way from New Zealand and lodged an FIR.

Some skeletal remains were recovered from the residence of Yadav which matched with the DNA report of the victim's father.

Counsel for the petitioner, Sunil Kumar Singh, pleaded before the court that the evidence relied upon by the prosecution was not sufficient to convict his client and the case did not fall within the category of rarest of the rare.

UNI AKS-SC CS DS1350