Nirbhaya case: Buxar prisoners preparing hanging ropes

PATNA: Some of the convicted prisoners of Buxar central jail in Bihar are working overtime these days to prepare the hanging ropes purportedly for the four convicts of Nirbhaya gang rape-cum-murder case in Delhi.
The Buxar central jail had earlier supplied the hanging rope to Tihar jail where Afzal Guru, the prime accused in the 2001 Parliament attack case, was hanged to death on February 9, 2013.The Buxar jail situated on the banks of the Ganga is known for its expertise in preparing the hanging ropes, earlier known as Manila ropes.
Buxar jail superintendent Vijay Kumar Arora said on Sunday, “I have been asked by my seniors to keep 10 hanging ropes ready. I am not aware which jail has asked for the supply of so many hanging ropes. But we are already on the job.”
The directive to prepare 10 hanging ropes was sent to the Buxar jail superintendent three days ago. “The direction assumes significance in the wake of Union home ministry’s request from President Ram Nath Kovind to reject the mercy petition of one of the four convicts in Nirbhaya gang rape-cum murder case,” a prison department official said on the condition of anonymity.
Sources in the prison department said some of the convicted prisoners, who had prepared the rope for the hanging of Afzal Guru, are still serving jail sentence in the Buxar prison. “They have the technical know-how to make the rope with thread. It takes three to four days for seven prisoners to prepare a hanging rope,” revealed an official.
The rope earlier supplied for Afzal’s hanging had cost around Rs1,725. But the cost will increase as the prices of raw material such as thread have gone up. The price of brass bush, which is used in the rope, has also increased. “The ideal length of a hanging rope should be 1.6 times more the height of the victim,” said another official.
The thread is normally supplied by the traders engaged in textile business at Manpur in Gaya. Earlier the thread was bought from Bhatinda in Punjab. “Till recently, only the Buxar central jail supplied hanging rope in the country. But, of late, such ropes are being made in a few other jails also,” said the Buxar jail superintendent.
The prison has the history of making Manila rope since 1930 and this rope has never failed to execute the death sentence. Official records showed that Buxar jail had supplied ropes to Bhagalpur central jail for the execution of convicts in 1992 and 1995. In 2004, a rope was sent to West Bengal for the hanging of rape convict Dhananjay Chatterjee.
When contacted, jail IG Mithilesh Mishra said the ropes were being prepared in advance to ensure timely delivery to the jail concerned. “We are making the ropes so that execution process of any convict is not delayed,” Mishra said.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)