Wrongful hanging
By Dr Upul Wijayawardhana-April 10, 2019, 8:35 pm
I was sadly reminded about the brutal murder of my uncle, my father’s only brother, when I read ‘Death Penalty for brutal killers’ (The Island, 30 March), a critique by Jayman of my article ‘No alternatives to the noose?’ (The Island 27 March), wherein it is stated "Fortunately for him, he or his loved ones have obviously not been the victims of brutish murders …". Indeed, we are very unfortunate; more so, because his body has never been found and the family could, therefore, not even have a funeral. His killers, who murdered my uncle for getting on to a bicycle, in spite of being in his seventies, to visit relations so that he could remind them to vote for my brother, who was contesting the general election during the second JVP uprising, have not faced justice. It was all the more painful for me as I owe a great debt of gratitude to my uncle, D E Wijayawardhana. Knowing my ambition to be a medic, it was he who was instrumental in getting me admitted to Ananda College, Colombo as facilities in Rahula College, Matara were not sufficiently developed then.
I am sure many would agree with the strong sentiments expressed in that article and I too would not shed any tears for executed drug-lords. However, rather than being patronizing as alleged, my attempt was to discuss alternatives. Anybody who cares to watch the two films I referred to, would realize that they show evidence of Mindfulness Meditation changing criminal behaviour. But being a scientist, I prefer to use the word ‘may’ when further research is needed. By the way, executions will solve our drug problem is also conjecture; it may reduce!
One of the biggest problems with executions is that sometimes innocents may pay with their life. Some argue that even a single person being wrongfully executed is burden enough. A recent episode of BBC’s programme "Murder, Mystery and My Family" brought home this message very vividly. It is a series of programmes where a family member, who feels that an ancestor has been wrongly punished, tries to clear the name, in retrospect. Two barristers argue the case, for and against, in front of an experienced judge with expert opinion. Some judgements are confirmed but many instances of miscarriage of justice are highlighted. Reversal of judgement is only a comfort to the relative.
In the UK, between 1900 and 1964 about 800 have been hanged and in spite of having a highly reputed judiciary, a few instances of miscarriage of justice have been acknowledged. In the past, even robbing a few pennies had been a hanging-offence. In the nineteenth-century England, murder by poisoning was very common, partly due to ready availability of Arsenic compounds. Often, it was women who committed this type of murder. There had been an ‘epidemic’ of poisoning between 1840-1850 when 167 murders by poisoning had been reported in England.
On 25th of March 1851, 42 year old Sarah Chester was executed by hanging, the last woman to be executed in England for ‘intention to murder’. The execution was botched and she took seven minutes to asphyxiate to death. What is not realised is that hanging has to be well planned so that death is instantaneous, by the dislocation of the top two vertebrae in the neck. If the ‘drop’ is too heavy decapitation occurs and if too light there is delayed death due to asphyxia, as in this instance. Unfortunately, this lady was tortured to death for no fault of hers.
Her husband Richard, a farm labourer, died after being intermittently ill for some time and the post-mortem examination showed he had died of consumption; TB which was very common and untreatable then. However, as stomach contents showed a trace of Arsenic, a police investigation had been launched. As a sac of rice found in the house tested positive for Arsenic, which may have been added to prevent vermin, she was prosecuted for ‘intention to murder’ as the 1/25 grain of Arsenic found in the stomach was not enough to kill. Previous to this, a neighbour has made an allegation that she tried to poison her child but she was cleared not only of this at trial but also at two further trials when she was accused of poisoning her children.
She was unrepresented at the trial and the expert witness was not challenged on obviously mistaken assumptions. These together with the public antipathy, one witness calling her "Sally Arsenic" during testimony, led to her unfair conviction, which both barristers and the judge agreed, in retrospect. But she had already paid unjustly and miserably with her life: facing a public execution and hanging at the end of a rope for seven minutes!
Talking about public prejudices the famous Sathasivam case comes to mind. Mahadevan Sathasivam was the best cricketer in Ceylon in thelate 1940s and 1950s. It is said that Gary Sobers called him ‘the greatest batsman on earth’. In 1951, he was accused of murdering his wife, a grand-daughter of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan but forensic evidence exonerated him completely. However, in ‘the public court of justice’ he was guilty and he had to leave for Singapore. In his memoirs titled ‘Mostly Murder’ Sir Sydney Smith, renowned British forensic scientist who was summoned as an expert witness, has an interesting anecdote. Just before he went for his return flight, Sir Sydney had received a post-card which stated "May your plane crash in retribution for the great injustice you did". His wry comment: "What a pity that person did not think of all the others who were travelling with me!"
We are often tortured by horrendous actions of our fellow beings and left feeling hopeless and helpless. But gut reactions and knee-jerk reactions are not the best ways of delivering justice!
