Prez rejects mercy plea of two convicts of Jharkhand massacre

New Delhi, June 23: The mercy plea of two convicts, who killed eight members of a family including a physically disabled youth in Jharkhand nearly nine years ago, has been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. The President has rejected the plea of the convicts-- Mofil Khan and Mobarak Khan, officials said today.

The duo had in June 2007 killed Haneef Khan with sharp-edged weapons when he was offering prayers at a mosque in Makandu village under Lohardaga district in the state. After killing him, they murdered his wife and his six sons which included the disabled youth.

A case was registered by the local police against Mofil and Mobarak and two other assailants. Following the probe, a local court there had given death sentence to all the accused.

However, the Jharkhand High Court had upheld death penalty to Mofil and Mubarak and modified the sentence to life term for the two others.

The Supreme Court in its final judgement in October 2014 also upheld the death penalty given to the convicts.

A mercy petition was then filed before the President through the Home Ministry. The plea, which was received in December last year at the President's secretariat, seeking mercy has been rejected by Mukherjee, they said.

After taking over as the President in July 2012, Mukherjee has rejected 26 mercy pleas so far including those of 26/11 terror case convict Ajmal Kasab and 1993 blast case convict Yakub Memon.

The death sentence in two cases has been commuted to life by the President.

Two mercy petitions of Jeetendra Gehlaut alias Jeetu, convicted for killing five women and two children during a robbery in Maharashtra, and Shabnam, who was convicted for killing seven members of her family at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, are pending with the President.

PTI