Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Boston Marathon bomber was sentenced to death by US jury on 15 May, 2015. He had helped to carry out the attack in 2013 which injured 264 people and 3 were killed in the renowned race which took 15 hours to come out with the decision. Tsarnaev who is 21, was given death sentence, wherein he was to be injected with lethal injection but there was another option for him i.e. to be put in prison without releasing him. Tsarnaev, last month was found guilty of placing a bomb made from homemade pressure cooker in the race and also shooting the policeman. This bomb attack was the highest attach in US soil.
Jury heard nearly 150 witnesses in 10 weeks of testimony in this matter, which included people whose legs were broken because of the bomb attack. William Richard, who was the father of Martin Richard, who was the bomb victim, where William had left his son to die in the bomb attack just to save his 8 years old daughter, but she too lost her leg to survive in the attack. Al-Qaida militants had attacked the US as an act of vengeance for US military campaigns which were conducted in Muslim countries where Tsarnaev helped them in their act of violence. Defence attorney argued that Tsarnaev was a part of the scheme which was hatched by his elder brother Tameralan, but Tamerlan had died in the gun battle. Tsarnaev was also found guilty of murdering 29 year of old Krystle Campbell, and a restaurant manager and 23 year old Linghzi Lu, a Chinese student.
The decision of the Jury does not mean that death is impending to Tsarnaev, George O’Toole, US District Judge, will sentence him to death in an awaited hearing scheduled for next few months, but this decision will be appealed by the defence attorney. In Massachusetts, death penalty has been quite controversial as it has abolished. Capital punishment for state crimes was abolished in 1984 and has not put anyone to death since 70 years. Since 1988, only 3 of 74 people who were given death sentence for federal crimes have been executed in US. Some of the 9/11 conspirators, Zacarias Moussaoui, Richard Reid were convicted to life imprisonment after labelling them as terrorist by US government.
by Sushma Javare.