Kasab to hang on a Bihar rope

Sat, May 8 06:35 PM

India, May 8 -- When the hangman's summon arrives for Ajmal Amir Kasab, ordered hanged by a Mumbai court, his end would come with a specially woven Buxar Manila rope around his neck.

The hangman's rope, 15-feet in length and weighing 3.75 kilograms, is a speciality of the prisoners ward of Buxar Central jail-handwoven with a special cotton thread known as the J-34 variety. The Buxar Central jail has been the sole supplier of the hangman's rope for the last one decade to each and every jail in the country.

The last order, it received was in 2005, when the Supreintendent of Tihar jail in New Delhi had asked for one in preparation for the hanging of Afzal Guru. Jail Superintendent, Jaishankar Prasad said, while no request has been placed with the rope manufacturing cell here, the rope making process does consume much time.

He said, the the J-34 thread is soaked in wax to make it soft, so that it does not get knotted. Two weaves of six thick strands on one side and 16 on the other side are interwoven to prepare the Manila rope, so preferred by executioners. The jail already has requests for 28 ropes.

If Kasab's is ordered for, it would be the 29th.