Amid the increasing demand for the death penalty to rapists, the Buxar Jail administration in Bihar has suddenly got hyperactive in manufacturing several hanging ropes, triggering various speculations. Although it’s not clear where they will be used, jail authorities said they are readying 10 such ropes right now.

“We have got direction from the senior officials to keep ready hanging ropes as they could be urgently required soon,” Buxar Jail superintendent Vijay Kumar Arora told The Statesman over the phone on Sunday.

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“We are expecting demand for such ropes given the prevailing situation in the country. Accordingly, we are manufacturing such ropes,” the jail superintendent said. Authorities said at least 10 such hanging rope are currently being manufactured. Buxar Central Jail is the only jail in the country which has the expertise to prepare such ropes.

Apparently, the administration swung into action shortly after the union home ministry sent a recommendation rejecting the mercy petition filed by one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya rape and murder case to President Ram Nath Kovind. The development came on a day the victim’s family demanded a similar punishment to the rapists as was handed out in Hyderabad veterinarian rape-cum-murder case.

Given a series of such developments in the country, hope for justice to the family of the Nirbhaya rape case seems to have brightened. Amid such developments taking place at quick intervals, the jail administration apparently feels the days of the convicted rapists could be “numbered” and they could receive an order for hanging ropes “any time”.

Buxar Jail is said to be the only prison in the country where Manila ropes, also known as hanging ropes, are manufactured. Ropes supplied from this jail have led to the execution of several outlaws in the past who included Dhananjay Chatterjee, convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl; Ajmal Kasab, who was involved in the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, and Afzal Guru, who was convicted in the 2001 Parliament attacks.

Reports said the environment of Buxar Jail, flanked by two rivers, is very ideal to prepare such ropes which are made from a special kind of thread, J-34 cotton yarn. Yarn spun into a thick thread is smoothened with a coat of soft wax and special care is taken to ensure there are no knots, even a small one, in the thread. There are varieties of ropes made by the Buxar Jail inmates which include tent ropes, handcuff ropes, and hanging ropes or Manila ropes.