Forgotten killer

An Indian convicted of rape and murder has been on death row for 14 years because state authorities forgot to hang him.

In March 1990, Dhananjay Chatterjee was arrested for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl in the eastern city of Calcutta, and sentenced to death. He was a security guard in the girl's apartment complex.

The death penalty was upheld by India's supreme court. The president rejected his mercy petition, but Chatterjee was never hanged, the Indian Express reported.

Nisith Adhikary, the state's Law and Justice Minister, said the delay was because of thousands of cases pending in various courts.

Chatterjee, now in his 40s, was quick to file another mercy petition in the state's high court, which was rejected recently, paving the way for his execution.

There is one problem. Hangman Nata Mullick, who last carried out an order 12 years ago, said he would not hang Chatterjee unless he was given a pay rise.