Former cop turned as a Rapist-killer gets death term

20-02-09 Bangalore: A former police constable in Karnataka, dubbed as "Jack the Ripper" after being charged with the rape and murder of 20 women, was Wednesday sentenced to death by the state high court for the rape and murder of a widow in 1998.Umesh Reddy alias B.A. Umesh was charged with rape and murder in around 20 cases in the last 12 years. He has been acquitted in most of the cases. Only seven cases are pending against him. Justice S.R. Bannurmath of the Karnataka High Court awarded death sentence to Reddy for the rape and murder of Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah on Feb 29, 1998. Bannurmath was asked to decide the sentence as a two-judge bench of the high court had on Oct 4, 2007, differed on whether Umesh should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. One judge upheld the death sentence awarded by a lower court, while the other ordered life imprisonment. (IANS)

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