6 S. C. Das — Tibetan Jails and Criminal Punishment. [Jan. 



tlie prisoner, is placed on his head, so that under its crushing weight his 

 brains are pressed out through the sockets of his eyes. 



In serious cases the tortuz'e called the Nam-tag, i. e., hanging by the 

 thumbs, is resorted to. The thumbs of the prisoner are tied together by a 

 strong string, the ends of which are fastened to the beam of a house or to a 

 gibbet. Then the supports being removed the prisoner is allowed to 

 swing in the air. When this too fails, he is subjected to the torture 

 called Gyab Naming. In this jn'ocess the prisoner's arms are twisted 

 round on his back, and then his thumbs are tied together to be suspended 

 by a string from the beam of a house. The support being I'emoved, he 

 is let hang. Some bricks one after another are placed on his back, so 

 that his ai-ms may be dislocated under the crushing weight of himself 

 and the bricks. 



Mahchya-gokor, — This torture is so called on account of the prisoner 

 being required to stand on his breast like a peacock, after his long- 

 flowing locks have been tied to his feet, his legs being bent backward 

 like a bow. 



The kind of torture called im-de (W3)'?*J") at Lhasa and Di1ng- 

 s7?oZ ( ^5^'(^QI' ) in Tsang, consists of two notched wooden racks, in 

 which the legs and feet of the prisoner are fastened to prevent him 

 from struggling to run away or to move under the pain of whipping. 



The torture called Laug-de (Q]^'W*f' ), or fastening of the arms in 

 a notched wooden rack, so that they may not be moved under exertion. 



Lang-de dak {'^'^'^^"S^^l' ), is the kind of torture in which the 

 iron handcuffs of the prisoner ar^e secui-ed to the iron collar which is 

 put round his neck by two short ii'on rods, about a foot long. This 

 is done to prevent his committing suicide. 



The most excruciating torment called the " chin-tsi " is used in very 

 serious cases. In this the finger joints and wrists are cracked by 

 a machine altogether at one time, and the flesh of the fingers is 

 severed out of the bones. 



In Tibetan courts the greatest punishment is given to the pi^isoner 

 before he is found guilty, in consequence of which people seldom prefer 

 any complaint for redress in a Criminal Court, the plaintiff as well as the 

 defendant are both ruined when involved in criminal cases. The pi^isoner, 

 after be has been subjected to any of these toi'tures, is sent to the jail 

 to wait for the sentence. In ordinary cases great delay is made in 

 delivering a judgment. In ninety-nine out of a luindred cases bribes 

 expedite the passing of a decision, diminishing the seveiity of a sen- 

 tence. 



