Dhananjoy Chatterjee, sentenced to death for raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl in Kolkata in 1990, was hanged on Saturday at 0430 IST, official sources said.

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''The execution of Dhananjoy's death sentence has duly been carried out at the scheduled time. His body has been handed over to Hindu Satkar Samity for cremation as no near relation turned up for taking his body,'' Inspector General of Police (Prisons) Joydev Chakraborty told reporters.

According to the execution procedure, the body was kept hanging for 30 minutes, before the doctors formally declared Dhananjoy dead.

Dhananjoy was sentenced to death for raping and murdering Hetal Parekh in her house in Bhowanipore on March 5, 1990.

As per his last wish, Dhananjoy was offered sweets and curd. He was also given a new shirt and pyjamas, which he
wore to the  gallows.

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''Dhananjoy behaved normally. He took a bath by himself inside the cell, offered prayers and walked to the gallows without any help,'' Chakraborty said.

Dhananjoy, who wrote three letters -- one each to his father, wife and two former jailmates -- was handed over one from his wife, Poornima, before his execution.

The IGP said Dhananjoy's wish to donate his eyes could not be fulfilled because his family's consent was not received.

Human rights organisation Manab Adhikar Surakha Manch and some students of the Bishop's College held a vigil outside the Alipore jail, where the execution took place.

At Dhananjoy's home in village Kuludihi, his family threw stones at jounrnalists trying to speak to them.

It rained heavily in the village all night.

The family heard about Dhananjoy's execution at 0600 am on a little transistor radio. Immediately, loud wails were heard from the house.