Chamarajanagar :  An eerie silence pervades the village of Shivu and Jadeswami, who have been sentenced to death  in a rape and murder case and whose mercy petition has been rejected by the President.  Bhadrayyanahalli in Kollegala taluk of Chamrajnagar district, is considered a village of criminals.

The families of the two convicts were shocked as media aired news  mentioning about the rejection of the mercy petition.With this last ditch efforts of the family of the two convicts had failed to yield results. On the other hand, there was  some smile on the face of the mother of the young woman who was raped and murdered. She has the sense of satisfaction that the killers of her daughter have been  brought to justice.

The incident :  On October 15, 2001,  Shivu and Jadeswami had raped  18 year old Shivamma of the same village and had then murdered her. After the charges against the duo were proved, the Chamarajanagar District Court had  passed a judgement sentencing the two to death in 2005. Even the High Court upheld the lower court’s  judgement in 2007. In 2012, the Supreme Court  dismissed the writ of the accused challenging the High Court order. Finally, the two had applied for mercy petition in 2013 with the President of India.

What the families have to say: If  Prakash, the brother of Jadeswami strongly feels his brother’s mercy petition should have been accepted,Chellamma, the mother of the victim Shivamma says  justice has finally prevailed. The DNA test report and the  bite marks on Jadeswawi and Shivu’s hands  proved  vital evidence in this case. Even the DNA test of the blood clot in  the young woman’s teeth and also the piece of flesh  found in her mouth had  proved that the two were the rapists.

Incidentally, one of the convicts Jadeswami was a minor and had not completed 18 years of age when the incident took place. His family is now  trying to bring this aspect to the attention of the court.