Gillian Rosemary D'Costa Hart, the principal of the Kolkata school where Hetal Parekh studied, on Wednesday welcomed the rejection by President A P J Abdul Kalam of the mercy petition of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, sentenced to death for raping and murdering the 14-year-old student.

"We are all relieved. We think that it took some time but finally justice was done," she said.

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D'Costa Hart strongly advocated extreme punishment for Chatterjee saying it would act as a deterrent. She felt sorry for his family but insisted he received the punishment he deserved.

Chatterjee was a lift-operator at the housing complex where Parekh lived. He had raped and killed the 14-year-old girl, then a student of Welland Gouldsmith School in Bowbazaar area, in 1990 at her residence.