Execution of Indian-origin likely to be deferred: US

There is a slim chance of the first death-row Indian-American prisoner being executed on the scheduled date of February 23 because of a 2015 moratorium on death penalty by Pennsylvania Governor, officials said on Friday.

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 32, in 2014 was given death penalty for kidnapping and killing a 61-year-old Indian woman and her 10-month grand-daughter. It was seen as part of a botched kidnapping-for-ransom plot.

“Our Governor has said that should an inmate not be issued a stay of execution by a court, he will issue a reprieve. “I want you to know this because the likelihood of the execution taking place is slim,” Sue McNaughton, Communications Director, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections told PTI.

Last week, the Department of Correction signed an execution order that Yandamuri be executed through lethal injection on February 23. “Yes, he knows about it. In fact, the official document was read to him at his cell door on the same date the notice was signed,” McNaughton said.

A native of Andhra Pradesh, Yandamuri had come to US on an H-1B visa. He holds an advanced degree in electrical and computer science engineering.

Following his conviction, he asked that death penalty be imposed upon him. Later he appealed his sentence, but lost his appeal last April.

Raghunandan Yandamuri was given death penalty for kidnapping and killing a 61-year-old Indian woman and her 10-month grand-daughter