BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence awarded to serial killer B A Umesh Reddy. Upholding the judgment of a lower court, the High Court observed that Reddy’s crimes fell under the rarest of rare category.
An ex-police constable, Reddy had gained notoriety during the 90s for his ghastly crimes. He was involved in 21 cases, all extremely serious offences. While he was acquitted in 11 cases, he was convicted in nine. He escaped from police custody six times.
Justice S R Bannur Math awarded death sentence to Reddy by upholding the October 26, 2006 judgment of the 7th Fast Track Court, Bangalore.
Eleven years back, Reddy was arrested for the rape and murder of Jayashree Maradi, a widow, in Bhuvaneshwarinagar, Peenya Dasarahalli in Bangalore. After the prosecution proved the allegations against him, the FTC awarded death sentence to Reddy.
The court observed that there was hardly any scope for finding any mitigating circumstances in favour of the accused. “Reddy is a habitual criminal and in spite of imprisonment sentences imposed on him in several cases, the same have had no deterrent effect on him,” said the court.
Since no reformation could be expected from a perverted criminal, the court questioned the need to look after “a devil in the man’s garb by locking him up in the jail”. The judges observed that as he ran away from custody and committed crimes whenever he got an opportunity, awarding death punishment was the “only way to meet the ends of justice”.
A history of violence
Umesh Reddy worked as a constable in the Central Reserve Police Force. After he tried to rape the daughter of a Major in CRPF, he was dismissed. He returned to his hometown Chitradurga and joined the District Armed Reserve as a constable.
While in service, he raped and murdered a married woman. After committing the crime, he preserved the victim’s undergarments.