Nirbhaya Case | 'Manila Ropes' To Be Used For Hanging Of 4 Convicts: All You Need To Know

Four convicts in the sensational 2012 Nirbhaya Gang rape and murder case will be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail, a Delhi court said on Tuesday. The order was pronounced by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who issued the death warrants against the four death row convicts -- Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

According to an earlier report by The Indian Express, the Buxar Central Jail is ready to supply its famed "Manila" rope for the hanging of the convicts, and 10 such ropes have been readied to be supplied to the capital’s Tihar Jail.

The jail has expertise in making the wax-coated manila rope that it sells for Rs 180 a kg and which can easily withstand the tension caused by the fall of a person weighing up to 80 kg sent.

The jail produced several kinds of ropes used with handcuffs and for pitching tents. Clothes and durries are also woven by its inmates.

The last time a manila rope was sent from Buxar jail was in 2004 for the hanging of a rape convict was Dhananjay Chatterjee at Alipore Jail following his conviction in a rape-cum-murder case.

The jail, probably the only one in the country making manila rope, supplies several types of ropes to different jails.

Why is it called Manila rope?

• The rope got its name in Philippines because they are made from a type of fiber obtained from the leaves of the abacá tree that grows in the island nation. That fiber is called Manila hemp.
• It is made by the inmates of the Buxar Jail only when the government asks for the supply of the ropes for hanging convicts on death row.
• It is used for various purposes including as ship lines and fishing nets because of its strong resistance to salt water.
• The jail is located on the banks of river Ganga, making it extremely humid on normal days. Humidity is very essential for making the rope. Humid conditions make the rope smoother yet stronger, which is a necessity since it would be used to hold a body mid-air for a few seconds without snapping.
• The rope has to be 1.6 times the height of the convict and heavy enough to ensure that it can withstand the weight of the body.
• Buxar Jail has been making the Manila rope since 1930s, when the country was under the British rule. The same rope was used to hang 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

(With PTI inputs)