Capital punishment is the oldest form of public punishment. In ancient times, capital punishment was in the form of death by either guillotine, stoning, or hanging. In modern times, we find it more civilized to either inject murder offenders with fatal drug or send them to the electric chair. Some countries like China find it more feasible, economically, to hand the criminals over to the firing squad; the process is likely to be efficiently quick and painless.
There is one form of execution that is unknown to most people, but is very popular in some parts of the world. The procedure for this form of execution is as follows. The murder offender is brought to the mountaintop with his hands all tied up; he is then be pushed down the mountain. Typically, the “push” is done by an officer of the court. However, members of the murder victim’s family may ask for permission to carry out the execution themselves.
It is interesting to note that if the person happens to survive the fall, he or she will not be pursued for past crimes and can start a new life with a clean sheet. But the probability for survival is probably one out of…..a trillion?
~~~
Yikes. Gimme the firing squad over the mountaintop push any ol’ day.
Another intriguing and informative post, Simon! Thank you!
There are also the more insidious method that a lot of completely innocent people fall victim to: death by office.
Sure would be nice to bring back the guillotine for some folks walkin around on this planet..zman sends
An upcoming form of Capital punishment is by Shoe-throwing. First it was Bush and then the Indian Govt. Home Minister
are they given a helmet?