Today we will talk about death punishment and along with it, I will also tell you some statistics about how many times death punishment/Capital Punishment has been given in which state? and What the executioner(Hangman) says in the prisoner’s ear while Hanging?
Meaning the one who has been given the death penalty. Today I will talk about what the executioner says before hanging Prisoner in Prisoner’s ear.
It is considered the biggest punishment in India and this punishment is known as Capital Punishment. So in many cases, the death penalty is given. Just like, there are provisions for hanging in rape cases and there are provisions for hanging in murder cases and there is a provision for hanging for waging war against the state(India).
So many such Sections have been given in the IPC in which provisions have been given for hanging as punishment for committing that particular crime.
But in 1960, in the
Bachan Singh v. the State of Punjab – Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court had clearly said one thing that the death penalty would be awarded only in rare cases.
So in
Bachan Singh v. State of Punjab(1983) – Supreme Court of India said that what is the rarest of the case?
So let me tell you that a total of 27 people have been hanged since independence.
So let me tell you one more figure that from 2004 to 2015, more than 1300 people were sentenced to death.(death punishment confirmed by the Supreme Court)But only four of them were sentenced to death. (hanged till death)
So friends, from this we understand that there are two different stages for that the punishment is confirmed under the Supreme Court and another one is prisoner to be sentenced to death.
Some statistics about the death punishment-
far 57 people have been hanged in independent India and if we talk about the last 10 years, 1303 people have been sentenced to death in India.
Out of these, four people were hanged, one of them is Dhananjay Chatterjee (hanged him in 2004),
- Dhananjay Chatterjee (2004)
- Afzal Guru (2013)
- Ajmal Kasab (2012)
- Yakub Memon (2015).
If we look at the state war statistics in India, the maximum death sentence has been given in UP, a total of 395 people have been hanged in UP, it is a different matter that none of these people have been hanged so far.
So how which states how many prisoners have been sentenced to capital punishment?
- 144 in Bihar
- 129 in Maharashtra
- 1001 in Tamil Nadu
- 103 in Karnataka
So you should know one more thing about the death penalty is that both the State Government and Central Government have the right to reduce the death penalty or to Pardon capital punishment. Provision about it has been given in Section 433, and Section 433A The Code of Criminal Procedure.
And after that, the President also has the right to reduce or cancel(pardon) the death sentence. Article 72 of the Indian Constitution provides that the President can reduce or annul, pardon.
So at present, the discussion of the death penalty is in trend, because people are demanding capital punishment in cruelty cases.
Nowadays, the death penalty is very much discussed because of a very famous case the Nirbhaya rape case in which the public demanded more than how rare and very cruel crime was committed by the criminals in it. That is why the accused of the Nirbhaya Rape case were hanged on the demand of the public, which you can see in the newspaper by going to any news channel the accused in this case had done the very barbaric crime and that is why people nowadays are demanding for Capital punishment.
So as you all know that when the death sentence is given when it is written on the record, that why does the Honourable judge break the nib of that pen? then why does he do this?
-He does this because after this he or any other one cannot write the death penalty for any person from that Pen, because killing someone is a very wrong thing in itself.
And that’s why the nib of that pen is always broken after writing the death sentence.
But if there are provisions in the law, then the person for that offense should be sentenced to death for the offense.
So that is why the death sentence is given or sentenced, then one thing is worth mentioning here that when a person is sentenced to death, he has some rights.
For example, if the Sessions Court has awarded the death sentence, then the accused can appeal in the High Court. He has the right of appeal and when the High Court has given the confirmation, he can appeal to the Supreme Court and when the Honourable Supreme Court also gives the confirmation, the review petition is filed in the Supreme Court and the curative petition is filed after the review petition, then there is such a long process after which that person is sentenced to death.
When the death sentence is given and it has to be executed, then the government makes some preparations towards it,
Like making a noose.
So the noose is made in the Buxar jail of Bihar.
It is rehearsed before hanging so that no mistake can be made in it. So this hanging rope is made in the Buxar Jail of Bihar, and when a person is sentenced to death, before giving him the death sentence, the government practices it so that there is no mistake while giving the sentence.
Let me give you one more piece of information that whenever a person is sentenced to death, before hanging the prisoner, his wish is asked early in the morning. Wish does not mean that what is his last wish, the same as it is shown in the films, the wish is not like-
Example- What is your last wish?—-He says that my last wish is that you join in my place. so funny
To fulfill the prisoner’s desire, meaning not such type of desire like last wish or like my above example. Here desire means that like what he likes to eat or whether he wants to meet someone and if it is possible at that time to introduce prisoner to that person then he is allowed to meet that person and relatives allowed to meet him.
Then there is one more thing that, hanging always proceeds before sunrise that it is given before sunrise, so the reason behind it is that, after sunrise the other works of the jail start, so they should not be disturbed in their daily work, and the second reason is also behind this is that if that person was hanged before Sunrise(5 AM) in the morning, it is given in the jail manual that if a person is hanged in the morning or hanged before Sunrise and when his body is handed over to his relatives then it is for his last rites. His relatives could get the whole day.
When a person is hanged, then the person who is about to hang him, so that the executioner is called, he speaks something in his ear, but before that, you should know one more thing. What does the hangman say in the ear of the prisoner before hanging him?
Before going this, it is also important to know that only two people on the post of hangman the all over India. The post of Hangman is going on in India in an ancestral manner. Meaning like if you used to do wrong work then his son is also doing the work of heaven.
Now let me tell you that what is going on, just before executing the death punishment, means in the ear of the prisoner( who has been sentenced to death.)
What does Hangman speak in the prisoner’s ear? then he speaks that(Hangman Says in the ear)
The executioner says in his ear that, “forgive me, I am killing you, but this is my job. I am a government servant and this is my duty, so forgive me because it is only because of my duty that I am killing you.”…
The person who has been sentenced, who is being hanged, if the person is a Hindu, then the executioner(Hangman says in the ear) says, “Ram-Ram” in his ear and if the person is a Muslim, then he says,” Salam”.
Now you all get clear that what Hangman says in the ear?
Peoples want to know and like to know because the death penalty remains a topic of great debate all over the world these days.
So capital punishment should be given or not, just became a matter of debate.
