Former Commissioner General of Prisons recounts his despair as...

"I watched them being hanged"

By H.G. Dharmadasa 

I still do not know why I chose to be a prison officer. Having passed out from the Peradeniya University at the age of 23, I was already in employment for more than one and half years as a labour officer when I was selected as an Assistant Superintendent of Prisons, the only direct recruit to the rank after ten years. I was attached to Mahara Prison to be trained under J.P. Delgoda, Superintendent of Prisons, who later rose to be Commissioner of Prisons and a UN advisor. Part of my training was to witness the proceedings at an execution. Arrangements were made for me to go to Welikada Prison on a date an execution was fixed. 

It was in the early part of 1968. I had been in the Prison service for just over a month or two. I received a message that an execution was to take place the following morning at 8 and to be present at Welikada Prison by 7 to witness the proceedings. I went to Welikada the following morning and reported to the Superintendent, Mr. Gnanasundaram, who was already in his office. I told him I wished to talk to the man who was to be hanged. A stickler to rules, he allowed my request after much hesitation. A jailor escorted me to 'Death Row' or the condemned cells as we call it in Sri Lanka. The man had already been moved to the cell next to the gallows. It is the general practice to move the prisoner to the cell next to the gallows on the morning of the execution. 

The man was in his early or mid-forties and had a fine physique and pleasant appearance. It was the first time I had seen a condemned prisoner. I did not know what to ask him. I had already learnt that when you want to start a conversation with a prisoner you begin by asking about his case. So I asked him what his case was and he started pouring out his heart as if he was waiting to tell his story to someone in the last moments of his life. 

An immediate rapport developed between us. He said, "Sir, I had not committed any criminal offence before. I was a carpenter at Moratuwa having my own carpentry shop and doing fairly well in life. I had four men working under me. There was this man in the village who started harassing my family. He was a thug who lived by taking 'kappang' (protection money). He was a nuisance to everyone in the village and to the neighbouring villages too. He killed my brother who was also a skilled carpenter in an argument over 'kappang' . On several occasions he had altercations with me too. On this day I was returning after a job and as I got off the bus he started a fight with me and began to assault me. I fought back and in the struggle I stabbed him several times with the chisel I had with me. He died on the spot." 

"Do you have any regrets now?" I asked him. "I am a Buddhist. I feel sorry that I killed a man. But I have made up my mind now. My family and the villagers now live in peace. In fact, all the villagers including Buddhist monks and Christian priests signed a petition and sent it to the Governor General to spare my life, but it had no results. We are not powerful or influential people, we are only ordinary village folk. Sir, I have a young wife and an eight-year-old son and they came to see me yesterday. I told my wife that she is still young and should not waste her life over me, that if she finds a suitable man, she should get married and look after our son," he said. "I have made up my mind to go, I have no choice. I do not want to die like a coward." 

Time was running out for him and my conversation. 

Minutes later the Deputy Fiscal, the Superintendent, the Medical Officer, a Buddhist priest, jailors, guards and executioners arrived. A jailor looked at a file and asked the man's name and some other particulars in the presence of the Deputy Fiscal. I later learnt that the jailor was one of those who received the prisoner when he first arrived at the prison and what he did was identify the prisoner to make doubly sure that the correct man was being hanged. Thereafter the priest performed the religious rites. 

Then the cell door was opened and the guards and the executioners entered and got the prisoner dressed in a garb that looked like a workman's overall, a one-piece jumpsuit made of coarse off-white material. A broad body-belt was tied round his waist in which his hands were strapped. A head-gear that looked more like a bag made of the same coarse material was placed on his head. He was then brought up to the scaffold. 

I have no words to express the look on his face. It was grim but it also seemed as if he was making a valiant effort to look brave. The executioner then tied his ankles with a devise called the ankle strap. The man knew his life in this world was over and looked at us and said, "mang yannang Sir", 'Sir, I'll go.' It was a heart-rending scene. 

The bag like head-gear was brought down to cover the prisoner's face and neck and the noose was put round his neck. I had a feeling of despair. There was a burning sensation in my stomach and a sluggish feeling in my head. Here was a man who had talked to me a few minutes ago, now being killed in cold blood before my very eyes and yet I could not do anything about it. I felt sick and horrible. I felt this was murder in the name of justice. If killing was bad it was bad for the government to kill too. These thoughts flashed through my mind. 

The Deputy Fiscal nodded his head and the executioner pulled the lever. Instantly the scaffold opened up and the man dropped. I got near and peeped down and saw the body hanging, still trembling. I was shocked and almost in a daze but followed the officials. They came out of Death Row and round the building to the pit of the gallows. The doctor placed his stethoscope to the man's chest to check whether his heart beat had stopped. He waited for a few minutes, did it for a second time before ordering the body to be lowered. I thought this was to conform with the order of court "to be hanged by the neck till he is dead". That is the body is not lowered until the doctor is satisfied that life was extinct. 

Thereafter, the doctor carried out a post-mortem examination. Later a judicial inquest was held as required by law. After the doctor's evidence, the cause of death was recorded as "death caused by the rupture of the spinal cord due to judicial hanging". 

It was a horrible experience to say the least. I couldn't eat or sleep properly and had nightmares for a few days. I hoped and prayed I would never have to witness this gruesome spectacle again in my career in the prisons. 

Years passed and I had grown from the young immature Probationary Assistant Superintendent to a mature and experienced Superintendent of Prisons. In 1974, I had to take over duties as the Superintendent of Bogambara Prison in Kandy. It was the second largest prison in the country and the only other prison that had gallows. After seeing the first execution at Welikada Prison I had hoped and prayed that I would not have to witness it again. 

But it was not to be. Between 1974 and 1976 I had to be present at five other executions. This time not merely as an observer but to officiate. By now the post of Fiscal was abolished and the responsibility of officiating at the execution had fallen upon the shoulders of the Superintendent of Prisons. I had no choice. This was the duty cast upon me. 

Out of the five executions I have vivid memories of three because of the importance given to their cases at that time. Two were those of the two co-accused in the Thismada murder case (1972), where a young graduate called Somalatha from the village of Thismada in Kadugannawa was brutally murdered. The first accused was Richard who was executed first. Unlike in my first experience, I had seen and spoken to Richard many times during my daily rounds. He was never willing to talk about his case or personal life. He spoke little and always had a tough morose look. I thought there would be a difference on the day of his execution. I spoke to him but he responded in monosyllables. He had no remorse for the gruesome murder he had committed. He walked to the gallows quite unmoved and looked at the officials present as if to say, "So you came to hang me, go ahead and do it. I am ready". 

I did not get the same helpless feeling or the repulsive sensation in my stomach as on the first occasion. Perhaps it was because I was much older and hardened by prison experience. However it was not a sight one wished to see a second time, even if it was part of one's duty. 

It was different when Jayawardana, the second accused was hanged. He had spoken to me many times on my rounds. He was an emotional man and cried every time. He said he was not guilty of the murder and it was the first accused who had dragged him into it. Unlike Richard he was worried about his family and their future, as he had been the sole breadwinner and the children were small. As he was being marched to the gallows he was wailing and crying like a small child saying that he didn't deserve this punishment. 

Was there a miscarriage of justice? For a moment I wondered. He was wailing even on the scaffold as the noose was put round his neck. 

Some years later when I read about the case I found the evidence against Jayawardana was that he held the victim by the legs when Richard was cutting the neck and later carried the body with Richard close to a ditch. According to our law, as stated under Section 32 of the Penal Code, 'when a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention of all, each of such persons sharing that common intention is guilty of that crime whether that person participated in a lessor role". Perhaps Jayawardana did not understand the implications of the law and believed that he did not deserve the death penalty for the part he played in the murder. 

My next experience with hanging at the Bogambara Prisons was the execution of the infamous "Maru Sira" alias Siripala of Anuradhapura. The subject of his execution became a sensational issue that ended in the appointment of a Presidential Commission to inquire into it. Consequent to the high publicity the story of 'Maru Sira's execution received, two films Siripala and Ranmenika and Maruwa Samaga Wase were produced, both becoming box office hits. The story of the execution and what followed is so interesting it has to be recounted in a separate article. 

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