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Hunt on for hangman as latest recruit quits
The authorities were yesterday hunting for a fresh hangman after the third person to fill the slot decamped just seven days into the job creating a vacancy that will have to be filled at the earliest, a senior Prisons official said.
He said the latest recruit quit the job without warning at the beginning of this week after he was told the job he would be called upon to perform if capital punishment is re-introduced in the country. “The man was jittery at this point and refused to continue in the job saying it was sad and uncomfortable to put another person to death whatever the reason.
Since then we have returned to square one and an advertisement to fill the vacancy will be inserted in the media at the start of next week,” the official said.
Two persons recruited for the job in the middle of last year also decamped after following a two-month training course on how to perform a hanging.
“They gave no reason for the decision, but the poor wage of Rs. 15,000 per month could be one contributing factor,” the official added. He added that since then these two persons had sought re-instatement but their requests had been turned down as they had vacated their posts without providing a valid reason.
“This is a Government posting and there are standard procedures and requirements that have to be adhered to; therefore it is not easy or practical to offer the pair a re-instatement,” he said.
The official also firmly ruled out recruiting foreigners for this job after two unnamed Australian nationals had posted their intentions on a web site.
He said he cannot confirm if the web-site posts by the two Australians were authentic or a silly joke. “Whatever it may be foreigners will not be considered for this job,” he said.
He also scoffed at rumours that relatives or interested persons of those on death row may have threatened the hangman hopefuls forcing them to have a re-think on their jobs.
“There is absolutely no truth in such thinking. In the past there have been many hangmen but they did not face any danger to their work from either quarter,” the official explained.
At present there are 410 individuals on death row and the bulk of them are housed at the central jail in Welikada.