Mangalore : The mercy petition of Praveen Kumar who had killed four persons of a family at Vamanjoor in 1994, has been rejected by the President of India. A total of seven mercy petitions from convicts in Karnataka were pending before the president of India.

Praveen who had been to the house of his relative Appi Poojarti  on February 23, 1994, had hacked to death with wooden clubs, four members of Appi Poojarti family including her, her daughter Shakuntala, grand daughter Deepika and Appi’s son Govinda. It is said Praveen was lured by the jewellery which his relative’s had.

He who had then escaped, was later trapped. The Mangalore Sessions court had imposed death penalty on him in 2002 and the High court the next year had confirmed the punishment. In the meantime, Praveen   had escaped from police custody and after a long time traced in Goa where he was found married to a woman and even had a child. He was pursuing tailoring in Goa.