Parents and siblings of Dhananjay Chatterjee, convicted of raping and killing an 18-year-old, have threatened to commit suicide if he is hanged. Earlier, Chatterjee’s father had requested the government to put off his son’s hanging till his death. With the execution just three days away, the family, joined by 200-odd villagers, made their way to Kolkata to ask for Chatterjee’s pardon but returned empty-handed.Chatterjee’s parents, Banshidhar and Bela, wife Purnima, sister Mamoni and two brothers sat on dharna at Mayo Road in central Kolkata today, requesting a meeting with Governor Viren J. Shah. They were joined by friends and neighbours from Kuludihi and neighbouring villages in Chhatna block in Bankura, requesting that Chatterjee be released on humanitarian grounds. They returned after Shah refused a meeting.Chatterjee raped and killed Hental Parekh in March 1990 but his wife is convinced he has been framed. ‘‘I believe my husband is innocent. I am sure he never committed that crime. He has just been framed in this case. We don’t know what we will do after his execution. We will have to commit suicide,’’ says Purnima.Eighty-year-old Banshidhar says he wants to die before hearing the news of his son’s death. ‘‘What will they get by kiling my son even had he done the crime? Will they get the girl back? I have deepest sympathy for their family but what is our crime?’’ he says. Banshidhar, a priest by profession, has four daughters and three sons. Dhananjay is his second son.The family’s struggle has won the support of filmmakers Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen, writers Mahasweta Devi and Narayan Sanyal and playwright Bibhas Chakrabarthy who have appealed to President Abdul Kalam requesting him to commute the death sentence to life imprisonment.
