Karnataka has eight convicts languishing in Hindalga jail in Belgaum waiting to be hanged. Today is World Day against Death Penalty and human rights activists will hold a walk and a candle light vigil asking the President to change their sentence to life-term.

We look at the lives of the convicts:

Saibanna is one among the eight, and is convicted for three murders. Saibanna murdered his wife Malakawwa and was in jail while on trial. During this time, he met Dattu, an undertrial, who offered his daughter Nagamma in marriage to him, and promised to get him out of the jail. Saibanna was out on parole during the trial when he married Nagamma. They had a daughter. But he was sentenced to life by the court. While serving life sentence, he was out on bail for a month, when he suspected his wife's fidelity. On September 12, 1994, Saibanna stabbed his wife and his daughter to death.

Praveen Kumar, a tailor, was given a death sentence in 2003 for killing his 70-year-old aunt, her two children and her eight-year-old grandchild. Praveen used to stay at his aunt Appi's house whenever he visited Mangalore to buy raw material. Appi's son Govinda had come from abroad. Praveen visited them at that time. He first hit them on their heads with firewood sticks and then made holes in their temples with a sickle. He made away with cash and valuables. He was arrested but escaped from police custody. He went to Goa and remarried. Based on a tip-off, police arrested him.

Shivu and Jadeswamy were sentenced to death for raping and murdering an 18-year-old in 2001. The duo are from Kollegal taluk in Chamarajnagar. They had tried to rape two women earlier, but the women escaped. The village panchayat had admonished the duo, but no police complaint was filed. Emboldened by this, they raped an 18-year-old girl and murdered her.

Bandit Veerappan's associates Simon, Bilavendra, Gnanaprakash and Meesemadaiah were sentenced in connection with a landmine blast at M M Hills near Mysore, which killed 21 people in 1994.

The South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) and Amnesty International, St Joseph's College and Indian Social Institute will hold a walk from M G Road to Town Hall and a candlelight vigil opposing death penalty.

"These convicts live in isolation and simply keep waiting for the day of their death. After the death sentence is announced, they are moved to private cells and do not interact with others. Only their families can visit them once in a month. We are asking the government to change the sentence to life imprisonment," said R Manohar, head programmes, SICHREM.