No point having permanent hangman at Tihar: Kiran Bedi

Former Inspector General of Tihar Jail, Kiran Bedi on Friday said there is no point in having a full-time hangman at South Asia's largest prison as the execution of convicts is a rare occurrence. The statement comes hours after four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case were hanged by 57-year-old Pawan Jallad, a hangman from the Meerut Prison as Tihar does not have one for years now.

Asked why Tihar cannot have a hangman of its own, Bedi, who is presently the Lt Governor of Puducherry told PTI over phone: "It (execution) is a rare incident and therefore there is no point in keeping one person only for this." Moreover, Pawan is a third-generation hangman from Meerut which is not far off from Delhi and Tihar authorities can always hire his services, she said. "His father and grandfather too have carried out executions at Tihar. It is like they are professionals in this act. Whenever Tihar jail authorities needed their services, they would come," she said.

Bedi served as the IG of Tihar prisons from 1993 to 1995 and turned it into a model prison by bringing many reforms. She was given Ramon Magsaysay award in 1994 as an appreciation for her services in police and prison departments. Pawan, the only certified hangman in Uttar Pradesh, is presently employed by Meerut jail. His grandfather Lakshman and father Kallu too were hangmen and had executed the death sentences of assassins of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as well as the notorious duo of Ranga-Billa of Geeta and Sanjay Chopra kidnapping-murder case.

The Nirbhaya convicts -- Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- were executed by Pawan on Friday at 5.30 am in the prison.

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