'I forgive you': Here's what jail officials say were Yakub Memon's last words

There are several versions of what happened minutes before Yakub Memon was hanged and the latest reports suggest that he had told the jail officials that he would forgive them because they were only doing their duty.

The Indian Express reported that Yakub Memon’s last words were, “Main aur mera rab hi janta hai ki asliyat kya hai. Aap log toh duty kar rahe hain isliye main aapko maaf karta hoon (I and my God know the truth. You people are just doing your duty, so I forgive you).”

Yakub Memon was hanged on Thursday, 30 July after being convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. His hanging took place despite last minute efforts by his lawyers to delay it. In an unprecedented move a three-judge Supreme Court had heard is curative petition at 3 am on the day of his hanging.

Sources told The Indian Express that Memon was calm and composed has he walked to the gallows after being brought out of his barack at 6.50 am. As he walked on the elevated platform, a constable said “chappal” after which he said, “Haan, nikal leta hoon” and promptly took them off.

In another report, Mid-Day claims that Memon kept telling jail officials that he was paying for his brother Tiger Memon’s sins.

Yakub’s Nagpur lawyer, Anil Gedam was quoted by Mid-Day as saying , “Yakub kept repeating that he was going to be hanged for his brother’s sins, if at all, and that he had not done anything wrong.”

A  Mumbai Mirror report quoted unnamed prison officials that Memon had turned away his meals in prison after his curative plea was rejected by the apex court on 21 July and he was put on a saline drip to ensue he could be classified ‘fit for execution’.

There were also reports t hat claimed Memon had hallucinations and was filled with rage before the execution, but Times of India quoted a Nagpur jail official as saying that Yakub was calm to the very end.

Memon was the only person sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai, that killed 257 people. A Tada court had convicted 100 persons for their involvement in the blasts, including other members of the Memon family who were found guilty of abetting the conspiracy to carry out the blasts. He was convicted on charges of participating in the conspiracy to carry out the blasts.

A Times of India report said that Yakub had written a final mercy petition to be given to the president on the night before his hanging but it wasn’t delivered. He read the Quran late into Wednesday night. When he woke on the morning of his execution at 5 am, the first question he reportedly asked was about his mercy petition.

Among the grounds for Memon seeking his death penalty being commuted was the fact that he was suffering from schizophrenia, a ground that had been exploited by another convicted by another death convict Devinder Pal Bhullar. While the Nagpur prison officials certified him  mentally and physically fit to be executed, the Mirror report quoted prison officials as saying that doctors who were monitoring his condition said that he was ‘overcome with hallucinations’ before the hanging.

There was no birthday cake for Yakub or last minute call to his 21-year-old daughter. He was taken for one last medical check up before being taken to the gallows, reported the Telegraph.  

An official told the newspaper that the body was kept hanging for a half hour in keeping with procedure and was then shifted to the prison hospital for a post-mortem. “The body was later embalmed, placed in a coffin and flown to Mumbai,” the official said.

As per prison schedule, he would have been woken (if asleep) around 3:30 am, allowed to take a bath, permitted to read a religious text and would then have been offered a final breakfast. The Times of India said that the prison authorities didn’t call any maulvi to be present. It isn’t very clear if one was finally allowed in prison to meet with Yakub before he was finally executed at 6:43 am on Thursday.