Yakub Memon's final moments: Hallucinations, a birthday cake and then anger

When he was sentenced to death by a Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)  court in 2006, Yakub Memon erupted in rage, shouting ,“Oh Lord, forgive this man for he knows not what he does.” However, on his last day, even as his lawyers approached the Supreme Court and President seeking to delay his hanging, the former chartered accountant went from being calm after learning his fate to reportedly suffering from hallucinations. A Times of India report also said that Yakub seemed reconciled to his fate and refused food on Wednesday. Memon also met with his brothers and a lawyer in the jail’s meeting room on Wednesday and was outwardly calm, the report said. But a  Mumbai Mirror report quoted unnamed prison officials that Yakub, the lone convict in the 1993 serial blasts on death row, 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’. [caption id=“attachment_2371390” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Yakub Memon. PTI image[/caption] However, other reports said that he was calm even after the apex court’s verdict allowed the execution to take place on Thursday. An Indian Express report said that Yakub had calmly returned to the ‘faansi yard’ (hanging yard) of the jail, that houses those sentenced to death, after being informed that the Supreme Court had turned down his plea to stall the execution. The Times of India report quoted Yakub as saying that the Supreme Court had “failed” to give him the justice that he deserved . The Mirror report on the other hand reported that the 53-year-old broke down and “cursed his luck” for being the only member of his family who faced punishment after being prosecuted for their involvement in the serial blasts. Yakub also might have received a cake that was given by his family to the jail superintendent to be delivered to him on the occasion of his 54th birthday, the Indian Express reported. Yakub 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. Yakub was convicted on charges of participating in the conspiracy to carry out the blasts. 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. 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.