Nirbhaya case: Execution ropes from Buxar Jail could be used to hang rapists

More than a month before death warrants were issued in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, a jail in Bihar had been commissioned to make 10 execution ropes that are likely to be used for the four convicts scheduled to be hanged on January 22 The Buxar Jail, the only prison in the state has the required know-how, had received an instruction to the effect in the first week of December The four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail, a Delhi court ordered on Tuesday.

According to Buxar Jail Superintendent Vijay Kumar Arora, the ropes are "strong" but have a "short shelf life as these are made of unprocessed cotton". They were made available to the prison directorate by the December 14 deadline."We do not know where these are going to be used. But, the Buxar Jail has a long tradition of manufacturing such ropes," he had said.

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"It is from this jail that the rope used for executing the death sentence awarded to Parliament attack case accused Afzal Guru was sent. In 2016-17, we had received orders from Patiala Jail though we do not know for what specific purpose," he had said "It takes about three days to prepare one rope and it involves mainly manual labour with a little use of motorised machinery," he had said.

Arora had said the last time a rope was supplied from here, it had cost Rs 1,725 "only". The amount varies from time to time mainly on account of fluctuations in prices of iron and brass, he had said. "These metals are used to make bushes fastened around the rope to ensure that the noose remains firm around the neck and the knot does not come undone when the weight of a human body is suspended from it," the jail superintendent had said.

Asked about the manpower required for the job, he had said five to six persons are usually engaged in making one rope. "Yarns made of 152 strands of thread each are plaited together to come up with a rope of the desired dimensions. Each rope uses up close to 7,000 such strands," he had said.

Tihar seeks hangman

After the Patiala House Court issued an anticipated death warrant to execute the four rapists in the Nirbhaya case, Tihar jail officials wrote to the Uttar Pradesh Police, seeking the services of a hangman. The convicts who are lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail will be hanged till death on January 22 at 7 AM.

On Tuesday, subsequent to the verdict, Tihar jail officials wrote to the prison officials in Uttar Pradesh to inform them about the date and time of the execution as planned by the Court. With the absence of a hangman in Tihar, the jail authorities were reportedly approached other prisons in the country to provide them with a hangman. A hangman from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, Pawan Jallad had expressed his desire to execute the convicts in the Nirbhaya case. He further said, "I think they all should be hanged, I am prepared to carry out the execution if I am asked to by the administration (Tihar jail), I will go to Delhi and carry out my duty. Rapists should be hanged for their shameful deed which has shocked the country."

Since India has witnessed only four executions in this century, India's biggest prison has never officially appointed a hangman. The need for a hangman was necessitated only in 2012 when then-President  Pranab Mukherjee had rejected the mercy plea of 26/11 mastermind Ajmal Kasab. While Tihar jail sent for a job vacancy for a hangman, no one applied. 

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