The Hindu : National : Fresh debate over death sentence

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Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

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National

Fresh debate over death sentence

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, SEPT. 7. The CPI(M) leader, Biman Bose, has touched off a fresh round of debate in West Bengal over the advisability of continuing with the death sentence. The party's Polit Bureau member and Left Front chairman said a campaign would soon be launched to discourage social organisations from inviting Nata Mullick to grace functions. Mullick hanged Dhananjoy Chatterjee, convicted of raping and murdering schoolgirl Hetal Parekh.

`Wrong signals'

"It is unfortunate that he [Nata Mullick] is being invited to various functions like blood donation camps and so on," he told The Hindu . "It is sending the wrong signals to children, who are trying to ape the hanging and dying in the process."

`Playing' Dhananjoy

At least five children have died across the State since August14, the day Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged. The children, all in the age group of 10 to 14, died while "enacting" Dhananjoy's hanging.

On Friday, a 10-year-old boy died in Nanur in district Birbhum when he was "playing" Dhananjoy.

The CPI(M) MP, Sujan Chakraborty, who shared the dais with Nata Mullick in July along with the other MP, Mohammad Salim, has said that he did so then keeping in view the Hetal Parekh case. But now he would not mind a countrywide debate on the issue.

The party's student organisations are even considering a conference to promote discussion on the subject. CPI(M) leaders Jyoti Basu and Anil Biswas are also of the view that the death sentence should be abolished.

`Don't make him a star'

The Defence Minister and State Congress president, Pranab Mukherjee, endorsed the call for a debate. "Nata Mullick is just doing his job. Why catapult him to near stardom?" he said.

He too felt that the hype over the Dhananjoy case had boomeranged and so many children died as a result.

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