BELAGAVI: For the first time since 1983, Karnataka is getting ready to witness hanging of a death convict. The stay issued by the HC on the execution of rapist and murderer Umesh Reddy and another notorious criminal Saibanna Natekar will end on September 2. According to highly-placed prison sources, the court is unlikely to extend their stay further this time. This means the duo may become the first ones to be hanged after 35 years not only in the state, but also in South India.
In all, 21 prisoners including Reddy and Natekar who are facing capital punishment are languishing in Hindalga central prison of Belagavi for the last several years. After the SC sentenced both of them to death in 2005, the two filed mercy petitions with the President of India. After sometime, their mercy petitions were rejected by the President in 2013. When the Prison Department was completing formalities for their hanging, the two were able to get the execution stayed through the state HC in 2016.