Two days after Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar jail, his wife Tabbasum on Monday received a letter supposed to have been written by the jail superintendent informing her that since the President of India had rejected her husband’s mercy appeal his execution had been scheduled for 8 am on February 9.
Union home secretary R.K. Singh had said on Saturday that word about the plan to execute the death sentence had been sent to Guru’s family both by Speed Post and by registered letter and that senior police officials in Kashmir had confirmed receipt.
Guru’s cousin Muhammad Yasin Guru told this newspaper that area postmaster Ghulam Hassan Ganai informed the family on the phone on Sunday evening that he was to receive a letter addressed to Ms Tabbasum and would like to deliver it personally at her residence “when it actually arrives”. He visited the family at Jagir, Sopore, 55 kilometre northwest of here, at 8 am on Monday — exactly 48 hours after Guru was hanged — to deliver the letter. “But we refused to accept it because it had no seal of Sopore or Baramulla post offices on the cover. Also, he wanted us to sign the acknowledgement letter which actually was a plain piece of paper,” Mr Guru said. The postmaster returned at 11.30 am with the registered cover duly stamped at the Sopore post office.
Memo No. F3/SC13/AS9WJ/2013/189), dated February 6, 2013, signed by the superintendent of Central Jail No. 3 — Tihar, New Delhi, but without mentioning his or her name or bearing the official seal, says: “The mercy petition of convict Mohd. Afzal Guru s/o Habibullah has been rejected by Hon’ble President of India. Hence the execution of Mohd. Afzal Guru s/o: Habibullah has been fixed for 09/02/2013 at 8 am in Central Jail No. 3. This is for your information and for further necessary action.”
“Is it humane to inform the family after three days of their dearest one having been sent to the gallows,” asked Yasin.