Indian President Abdul Kalam rejected a mercy plea...

Indian President Abdul Kalam rejected a mercy plea for Dhananjoy Chatterjee, a man convicted of raping and killing a teenage girl, paving the way for India's first execution in 15 years.
The hanging of Dhananjoy Chatterjee had been stayed in July when a human rights group made an appeal to Kalam for clemency. The convict's parents had threatened to commit suicide if the execution first set for June 24 was carried out.
Chatterjee, an apartment guard and elevator operator in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal state, was convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old tenant when she returned from school in 1990. It was not clear when the execution would take place.
The death sentence was to be carried out by 83-year-old Nata Mallick, who told reporters he was tying nooses at home for practice and would bring to the gallows his 20-year-old grandson who would succeed him as Calcutta's hangman.