Crime and punishment-The last days of a convict on a death row

Crime and punishment-3

Monday has come and almost gone and the fears of human rights organisations and the four members of the Veerappan gang that they would be hanged has proved to be baseless. Moreover, the Supreme Court of India has stayed the execution of these four till Wednesday.

It was really a little bit to much to read that several people made a beeline to the Hindalga jail in Belgaum when they heard radio, TV and newspapers announce the rejection of a petition by an advocate  before the Supreme Court seeking a stay of the execution.

Well, hanging a man is not so easy and a long and elaborate process has to be followed both by the judiciary and the jail authorities before a person can be executed.

Since death penalty involves taking away the life of a man, our Constitution fathers thought it prudent to put in place a series of  checks and balances to ensure that a person on a death row gets even a last chance for mercy or commutation of his sentence.

The power to commute a death penalty is therefore vested with the President of India and even this power is subject to judicial scrutiny. This shows the value that the Constitution places on a life in our nation.

Coming back to the issue of convicts on a death row, such persons are generally kept away from other prisoners. They have a separate cell and they are closely monitored and their health frequently checked. You see, they must be in good health id they are to be hanged and they cannot carry any serious injury to the hangman’s noose.

On the day of the execution, only a handful of officers will be present, including the superintendent of the jail, deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent in charge and the medical officer.

The district magistrate (Deputy Commissioner) will depute an executive magistrate to attend the execution and countersign the warrant. In case the convict so wants, a priest of his faith may be allowed at the site of the execution but this is entirely at the  discretion of the superintendent.

The prison manual lays down an elaborate set of guidelines to be followed in such cases. It says relatives of the prisoner and other prisoners will not (stress not) be allowed to witness the execution. The Superintendent may, however, permit social scientists, psychologists, psychiatrists and those conducting research to be present.
When the convict is being taken to the gallows, all other prisoners are kept under lock and key.

The night before his execution,  the prisoner will be provided with food of his choice. The next day, two hours before the execution, he will be woken up and asked to bathe. A fresh set of clothes are then provided to him and the moment is he is out of the cell, his face will be hooded and hands tied behind his back.

The manual says the prisoner, under no circumstance, will he be allowed to see the gallows. The prisoner will be made to walk through the passageway which is around 20 metres and this passage is covered in less than a minute.

Once the execution is carried out, the body will remain suspended for half an hour and taken down only once the medical officer has certified the prisoner as dead. The body will then be disposed off according to  the religious requirements.

In case the family members of the convict make a request in writing, the superintendent may hand over the body on the condition that no public display is made when the cremation or burial takes place.

Now let me come to the noose and the hanging knot

If the prisoner weighs less than 100 lb or 45 kilograms, he should be given a drop of eight feet or 2.5 metres and if he weighs between 100 and 133 lb (45 and 60 kg), he should be given a drop of seven feet eight inches or 2.3 metres. If a prisoner weighs more than 133 lb or 60 kg, but not more than 166 lbs or 75 kg, he should be given a drop of seven feet or 2.2 metres.

If the prisoner weighs more than 166 lb or 75 kg but not more than 200 lb or 91 kg, he should be given a drop of six feet 6 inches or 2 metres. If the prisoner weighs more than 200 lb or 91 kg, he should be given a drop of six feet or 1.83 metres.

All these are rigorously adhered to. Days before a hanging, the rope is tested with dummy sand bags which weigh more than the weight of the prisoner.

By the way, the last hangman in Karnataka was Siddappa Rayappa Kamble of Hindalga jail. After his retirement, the post of a hangman has not been filled up.

Siddappa joined the Prison Department in 1973 and the last execution in the State which involved him was in 1983. Since them there has not been any hanging in Karnataka though courts have handed over death sentences.

India has in all 309 death row convicts. Bihar tops the of prisoners on the death row with 80, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 72.

Maharashtra has 38 of them.

A recent report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) claimed that 1,455 convicts or an average of 132.27 prisoners were given death penalty every year from 2001 to 2011.

In its report called “The State of Death Penalty in India 2013”, the centre said the highest number of death penalty was imposed in Uttar Pradesh with 370 cases followed by Bihar (132) and Maharashtra (125).
Sentences for 4,321 people were commuted to life imprisonment with the highest number of commutation in Delhi (2,462) followed by Uttar Pradesh (458) and Bihar (343).

The last days of Vyasa Theertha

He was one of the greatest Madhwa sages of his times and common men and Emperors alike acknowleged it. He was honored by several Emperors including Krishna Deve Raya, his successor Achurta Deva Raya, the Adil Shahi Emperor who was a biter foe of  the Vijayanagar.

A royal preceptor to six emperors of the Vijayanagar dynasty, Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha had made Hampi or Vijayanagar the home of Madhwa or Dwaitha philosophy. He had, by example,  set the tone for Dasa Sahitya.

Krishna Deve Raya honored Vyasa Raja by performing Ratnaabhisheka and placing the seer on the throne of Vijayanagar for a day. Vyasa’s power and prestige reached a peak during the period of Krishna Deve Raya.

Vijayanagar then had two durbars-the royal one in which Krishna Deve Raya presided and the Dharmic one in which the venerable Vyasa held fort. In this court, even the Emperor was only a mute spectator.

Vyasa’s durbar was attended among others by Vadiraja Theertha, Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Belur Vaikunta Dasa (He did not stir out much from Belur and the only time he travelled was when he visited Hampi) and others such as Srinivasa Theertha and Rama Theertha, both followers of Vyasa Raja . Even the Portugese travelers Paes and Nuniz paid respect to Vyasa Raja in his durbar.   

Krishna Deve Raya died in 1529 and he was succeeded by Achuta Deve Raya. Achuta Deve Raya  showered Vyasa Raja with the same affection and respect as Krishna Deve Raya.

However, sometime during 1539, Vyasa Raja felt that his end was near. He recalled the curse of Brahma when he was Shanku Karna, Brahma had cursed him with being born a Brahmin and to live on earth.

Shanku Karna then had been plucking flowers for Brahma and he had stayed back awhile to admire the melody from the Veene of Saraswathi. Brahma had been angered by the delay of Shanku Karna in bringing him flowers for the worship of Narayana. He had then cursed Shanku karna.

Though born as Balmiki Raja, Shanku Karna had not been able to throw away the curse of Brahma. He had died at the hands of Bhima during the Kurukshetra War.

When he was reborn as Vyasa Raja, he realised that he would have to complete the curse of Nrahma. Hence, he had chosen to stay for long time in Hampi, particularly Nava Brindavana, which was the very place from where he had plucked flowers for Brahma.

Vyasa Raja visited Nava Brindavana frequently and paid his respect to Padmanabha Theertha, the first direct disciple of Madhwacharya. Apart from this seer, two others-Vageesha Theertha and Kavindra Theertha-had their brindavana at Nava Brindavana.

All these saints had left a place in the centre of the Nava Brindavana and Vyasa Raja had chosen this spot for his Bindavana Pravesha.

Vyasa Raja had made his intention to enter Brindavana clear to Achuta Deve Raya and his composer Dasa, Purandara. His two Shishyas, Srinivasa Theertha and Rama Theertha, too had been informed.

During the last few days of  his physical presence, the Emperor (Achuta Deve Raya) and the wandering ministrel (Purandara) were constantly on attendance to Vyasa Raja. They tried to fulfill each and every need of Vyasa Raja.

Even in those last few days, Vyasa Raja continued reading texts and teaching his pupils. When his eyelids drooped due to old age, he asked Pyurandara to hold them up so that he could continue reading uninterrupted.

On the day he was to enter Brindavan, the Emperor and Purandara were at his side. Vyasa Raja looked calm and composed though he knew his end was near. He began his pooje and slowly sang his favourite “Krishna Nee Negana Baro,” which he had composed some decades earlier. (This song is wrongly attributed to Purandara. By the way, this was one of Purandara’s all-time favourite and it was always on his lips.) 

Another song he remembered was, “Puttadhante madu srushteesa Sri Krishna Pattabhi Ramane Parama purushotthamane gettiyaagi ninna padhagala nambidhe.” He was continuously chanting the  name of  Krishna. He had worshipped Krishna uninterruptedly for more than eight decades. 

Looking at Vyasa Raja, Purandara  burst extempore into one of his songs. He likening the movement of Vyasa to the Brindavana to the movement of a jewel bedecked chariot. This, Purandara said, was the journey from Satyaloka to Devaloka.

All the while, Vyasa Raja was majestically sitting in Padmasana. He appeared oblivious of everyone near him who were in tears. The man who shed tears most was Puurandara. The Emperor  Achuta Deve Raya too was in tears.

Vyasa Raja was entombed in the Brindavana in the middle of Nava Brindavan. The day was Saturday and the date March 8, 1539. He had been born on April 22, 1447 in Bannur near Mysore and he was 90 years old or a little more at the time of leaving the mortal world.

Even as the large crowd watched, the last stone was placed on the Brindavana and the Emperor and Purandara among others walked back to Vijayanagar. Strangely, the lively city of Vijayanagar seemed to be enveloped in an eerie silence and all forms of gaiety had ceased on that day.

Purandara says he saw Vyasa Raja being taken in a special plane to Vaikunta.

During subsequent days, Achuta Deve Raya personally monitored the completion of the construction of the Brindavana. As far as Purandara was concerned, he seemed to be lost in thought and he began spending more and more time at the Puurandara Mantapa near Nava Brindavana. 

Much of the material for this article is taken from Vyasayogicharita, a wrok by Somanatha, a Smartha poet and contemporary of the seer, the biography of Vyasa Theertha by his immediate successor to the Vyasa Raja Matha, Sreenivasa Theertha and the poems of  Purandara. I have also referred to the chronicles of the foreign travelers who visited Vijayanagar during the time of Krishna Deve Raya and Achuta Deve Raya and also accounts of Vijayanagar Empire by historians of Adil Shahi court.