The last hours of Guru's life: No questions, no demands

Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on Saturday morning, was a tired man during the last few hours of his life.

He was informed about his hanging on Sunday evening. He was told that his mercy petition had been rejected and the date of hanging had been fixed for February 9.

According to sources, Guru, who did not speak much, had resigned to his fate. The lengthy delay regarding his sentence had taken a toll on him. In a plea to the court in March, 2010, Guru had urged authorities to hang him soon as his condition -- he was living in solitary confinement in Tihar Jail -- was “worse than death”.

Guru remained quiet after he learnt about the hanging on Friday evening.

At 4 am on Saturday, he was woken up and handed over a set of new clothes. After having a bath, he was taken back to his cell, where he prayed for sometime.

He had no questions or demands, said a source.

He didn’t even ask about the petition that was pending before the Supreme Court to question the delay in deciding his mercy petition.

His last wish was to inform his family members about his hanging.

At 7.30 am, he was led out of his jail cell and taken to the gallows, where he was hanged in the presence of jail authorities, a magistrate, three priests and a doctor.

After half-an-hour, his body was removed from the gallows and the doctor certified him dead.

The body will be kept at the gallows for another couple of hours before he will be buried within the premises of Tihar Jail on Saturday.