Delhi: Tihar jail
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Tihar gallows wood in demand as lucky charm
Megha Suri Singh
New Delhi: The gallows at the high-security Tihar Jail have been made out of bounds for prisoners and jail staff alike. The move has nothing to do with security concerns in the wake of increasing pressure on the government to carry out the death sentence of Parliament attack accused Mohammad Afzal Guru, who is lodged in the jail. It’s actually to protect the gallows from people desperately seeking small pieces of its wood.
Over the years, a belief has spread that the wood which forms the gallows brings good luck. It supposedly assures good results for children if kept in school books and wards off fears of all kind when kept under the pillow while sleeping. People even try to scrape off pieces of the wood and wear it on their arm as a talisman.
‘‘The top layer of wood on the gallows was fast disappearing as people have chipped off pieces. So a few years ago, we decided to keep the area locked. But requests for the wood continue to come from all sections of society including judges, politicians, bureaucrats and even jail staff,’’ said a prison official. So now, only the influential manage to get that lucky piece of wood. With 11 inmates facing a death sentence, including Guru, the gallows are refurbished from time to time. This includes checking the wood and if need be, replacing it, oiling the levers and testing the apparatus.
Gallows at Tihar Jail ready for execution
New Delhi: The last death sentence carried out at Tihar was way back in 1989 when the killers of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi — Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh — were hanged. With the debate on the execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru’s death sentence hotting up, the gallows could soon be put to use. But is Tihar ready to carry out an execution?
‘‘After a mercy petition of a convict is rejected by the President, we have to approach the sessions judge who awards the death sentence, for a black warrant. This specifies an exact date and time for execution, which is within one week of the petition being rejected. That much time is enough for us to prepare,’’ said Sunil Kumar Gupta, law officer, Delhi prisons. As for the apparatus, the prison administration procured a special wax-coated rope manufactured only in Buxar Jail, soon after the apex court upheld Afzal’s death sentence in 2006. The rope used for hanging weighs 3.75kg and is 16 feet long.
In 2005, the gallows located in the compound of Jail 3 were refurbished. The wooden panels and planks were given a makeover in metal and the noose handle was greased to get it back in working condition after 15 years.
Since then, regular maintenance is reportedly being carried out.
High suicide rate
In Sept 2014, Delhi's Tihar jail, one of the world's largest prison complexes, saw four deaths of inmates. Data shows that the suicide rate (incidents per lakh of population) is much higher among prison inmates than in the general population. Data also shows that in 2012, the inmate suicide rate was more than double the national average. The murder rate inside prisons is also rising steadily and is now higher than the national rate. The overall death rate (deaths per 1,000 population) is, however, lower in prison than outside. With over 85% of inmates aged 18-50, an age group with a low death rate, that's not surprising.
