Yakub Memon to wake up at 3am on the day of his hanging

Nagpur, July 24: On July 30th, Yakub Memon will be woken up at 3 am and served a breakfast of his choice before he takes one last walk leading up to the gallows at the Nagpur jail.

The hanging of Yakub Memon, who has been convicted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts would be subject to his mercy plea now pending before the governor of Maharashtra and also a petition before the Supreme Court.

Memon whose curative petition was rejected by the Supreme Court had preferred a mercy plea before the governor. He also moved the Supreme Court on Thursday, July 23 seeking a stay on his July 30th execution.

A breakfast of his choice

Although there are petitions pending against his execution, the Nagpur jail authorities say that preparations are already in place. He will be asked what he would want to have for breakfast. This is a right given to every prisoner on a death row.

We propose to carry out the execution by around 4.30 am. The rules state that an execution shall be carried out at sunrise and before sunset. He will be woken up at 3 am.

He is then required to have a bath following which a new set of white clothes will be given to him. He will also be given time to say his prayers. He will make the walk to the gallows by around 4.15 am, officials said.

Yakub will drop 7 feet

Yakub Memon currently weighs around 75 kilograms. As per the prisons manual a prisoner weighing 75 kilograms will have to drop 7 feet in order for the execution to be successful. An official informed that Memon currently weighs around 75 kilograms.

However his weight would be determined once again on July 26th. Normally as per the rules, the weight of a death row convict is taken four days before the execution. It is based on this weight that the drop is determined.

If the prisoner weighs between 45 and 50 kgs then the drop would be 8 feet. In the case of a 60 to 80 kg prisoner it would 7 to 8 feet. For prisoners between 90 kilograms and above the drop would be 6 feet.

Once the execution is carried out, the body will remain in suspended animation for a couple of hours. The body would then be checked by the medical officer who will need to certify him dead. A priest, a social scientist and the jail superintendent would be present at the gallows.

No decision on funeral

The jail authorities have taken no decision as yet on the funeral of Yakub Memon. The jail manual states that a public funeral cannot be conducted for a death row prisoner. The family would have to seek in writing permission from the jail authorities for the body.

If the jail authorities are convinced that no public display would be made, they can hand over the body to the family members. The family members are however expected to carry out the funeral before day break and not make a public show out of it.

There would be members of the jail staff and also police personnel to monitor the funeral if the body is handed over to the relatives. If the decision not to hand over the body is taken, then the funeral will be conducted in the jail itself. On prior written permission, family members will be allowed to take part in the funeral at jail.

OneIndia News