Countdown begins for hanging of Nirbhaya convicts

Tihar jail has begun the countdown for the pre-dawn execution of the four convicts who had raped, brutalised and killed a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in December 2012, in one of the most horrendous crimes in the country in recent years. 

All the four convicts are scheduled to be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 am.

All legal remedies have been exhausted for the death row convicts. The families of three of them—Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma—have already made their final visits. The impoverished family of Akshay Thakur, who resides in Bihar, also reached Delhi on Thursday and his wife was seen breaking down at Delhi High Court.

This is the first time that the jail is conducting a multiple hanging. In the past, there have been dual hangings, like in the case of Billa-Ranga, convicted in the murder of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra. The last hanging in Tihar jail was that of Afzal Guru, seven years ago, on February 3, 2013. The last hanging in the country was that of Yakub Memon, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. He was hanged on July 30, 2015 in Nashik jail. 

In fact, the last three hangings in the country have been of terrorists, the third being Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab convicted in the 26/11 Mumbai bombings. He was hanged in Yerwada jail on November 21, 2012. In fact, the last non-terrorist hanging in the country was that of Dhananjoy Chatterjee on August 14, in Alipore, Kolkata, for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old school girl. 

Tihar jail has conducted several dummy executions with sandbags, as part of the protocol, and also because this is the first time it is conducting multiple hangings. Hangman Pawan Jallad from Meerut is the executioner. 

Additional inspector general, Tihar Jail, Raj Kumar, said that there were no special procedures on the day before the hangings. “It is not like you see in Hindi films,” he said noting that there would be no last minute ministrations from priests or special meals for the convicts. The convicts will be taken from their cells around an hour before appointed hour. 

At the hanging, there will be jail staff as well as a doctor and the executioner. The doctor's assignment is to declare the convict dead once he is cut down half an hour after the hanging. The doctor is also tasked with handling any issues before the execution. The bodies are then taken for post mortem. In India, the ideal hanging entails snapping the neck vertebrae, which causes immediate death. A botched up hanging could lead to the convict dying of asphyxiation, which is not deemed a “humane'' execution.