After the rejection of mercy petition of Dharampal, a rape convict who murdered five members of the victim's family, by the President of India, Haryana prisons have sought directions from the Home Department as to where the hanging would take place.
“I have written a letter to the department of Home to give their permission for the execution of the sentence at Ambala Jail”, Sharad Kumar, Haryana DGP (Prisons), told The Pioneer.
He said the requisite arrangements needed to be made to carry out the execution, hence State Government’s approval is needed first. "It is up to the State Government to decide about the place of hanging”, Kumar added. Dharampal’s mercy petition had been pending for 14 years before the President of India.
According to jail authorities, the last execution had taken place in 1989 in Ambala Jail.
Accused Dharampal was charged with raping a girl in Sonepat in 1991 and was given a 10-year jail sentence in 1993. Shortly after being granted parole in 1993, he bludgeoned to death the girl's parents, a sister and two brothers while they were sleeping in their home.
In Haryana only Ambala and Hisar jails have the requisite facilities for hanging. Dharampal and his brother Nirmal were awarded death penalty for the murders in 1997. The sentence was upheld by the High Court a year later. In 1999, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Nirmal to life imprisonment.