Execution date set for first Indian-origin US death-row convict

Washington: The execution date of the first death-row Indian-American prisoner convicted of killing a baby and her Indian grandmother has been set for February 23. Raghunandan Yandamuri, 32, in 2014 was given death penalty for kidnapping and killing a 61-year-old elderly Indian woman and her 10-month granddaughter. It was seen as part of a botched kidnapping-for-ransom plot. However, he is likely to get a reprieve because of a 2015 moratorium on death penalty by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. Yandamuri is the first Indian-American to face death penalty. A native of Andhra Pradesh, Yandamuri had come to the US on a H-1B visa. He holds an advanced degree in electrical and computer science engineering. PTI

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