When a criminal is sentenced to death as per the criminal law in India, he will be hanged by the neck till death. It is also called as capital punishment and it is sentenced only if someone commits the most heinous crime. The last time, when someone got death penalty was Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab. Kasab was hanged on 21st November 2012 at 7:30 AM.
However, you may have noticed that every time someone gets the death sentence, the time for the execution is always set for early in the morning. You may be wondering why this happen always? Now, brace yourself, folks. We are going to tell you the reason behind the issue. There is a number of reasons, which include legal, ethical, administrative and social for selecting an early morning slot for the execution.
1. Legal Reasons
The execution process is followed inside the jail after the usual Prison manual. The Model prison manual for the superintendence and management of prisons in India states:
“The execution shall take place early in the morning before it gets bright. The latest time of the day for different seasons will be in accordance with orders passed separately by the Government.”
2. Administrative Reasons
It is a well known fact that performing execution is the biggest challenge for jail authorities. The execution happens in the early morning in order to make sure that all the chores remain unaffected for the rest of the day.
In the meantime, execution also follows several procedures like medical examination, filling multiple registers, notes, approval, and handing over the dead body to their family. Therefore, when they perform it in the early morning, it gives them ample time to perform all these tasks easily.
3. Ethical Reasons
The culprit, who is about to be executed must have been under immense stress and agony. The law is not about mental torture instead it is a death penalty. To keep the said person away from all the mental torture, the execution is performed early in the morning.
There is one more side of early morning execution, as it gives enough time for the family of the inmate to take the body and for performing the last rites accordingly.
4. Social Reasons
The death penalty is a huge news for the country, as most of the times, it has serious repercussions on the social environment. Many news outlets and channels wait outside the premise to break the news as soon as possible. In order to avoid any political and social outcry, it is done even before the people leave their bed.
