There are three things that a person sentenced to death must suffer. The first is humiliation, the second is agony, and the third is terror. Depending on the country where elephant deaths happen, this can also be a fourth one—deprivation of food and water (the last moment before execution). These countries might choose to use an elephant from their national park or another country to execute their condemned prisoner. In either case, the executioner will blindfold or sew up his or her eyes before tying him or her securely with ropes that go around all four legs and attach them to stout branches fixed firmly on the ground. Then, the animal will be led by two men toward the prisoner and lifted and placed on top of him.
The executioner will raise a club as if in readiness to strike, and the victim must brace himself for death. But what follows is a terrifying experience few people want to know about. Although elephants indeed have a reputation for being gentle enough to let everyone ride them without causing them harm, they are also very intelligent creatures. And although they are known to have a certain moral code they follow (for example, they will not harm humans who have surrendered), this does not mean that their instincts do not rise when they are in an agitated state of mind (the state in which they are during execution). It is crucial to never take advantage of their nature and try to ride them. If the prisoner is too feeble or sedated, he will not make a sound when the elephant rises. And if the elephant starts moving in an agitated state that causes it to lose its balance, it will certainly be crushed under its weight. When this happens, no one can rescue the executioner, who will now be lying on top of the fallen man. Furthermore, if the elephant loses its balance while lifting the executioner, its feet will hit him on his head and cause several painful injuries.
Earlier, the elephant had to be more aggressive to successfully execute a prisoner. They would have dragged the victim around and then used their trunks to crush his or her body. This was considered more effective than pressing him against a hard surface because it generated less noise. The animal was trained through punishment and reward to accomplish its task without distractions by onlookers. It is said that this gory spectacle took place in India until 1920 and in Thailand until 1924, but only for people convicted of serious crimes such as treason (for example, an attempt on the king’s life).
Today, elephants are used in Singapore and Yemen to execute criminals. In Singapore, they use the Asian Rhino, which looks very similar to the elephant. This species is much more peaceful than the African Rhino and will only attack if it feels threatened or mistreated by humans. They have stricter laws that prevent anyone from riding them during execution (either as a publicity stunt or as punishment) unless they are already blindfolded, and their hands are bound before being lifted up. This law was introduced in 1993 under pressure from foreign animal rights organizations concerned about human safety during this gruesome aspect of capital punishment.
In some countries, the prisoner is simply killed by lethal injection, so there will be no messy mess following the execution. But in Yemen, they use the Mazaq (or Mazaqah), a large type of monkey with a thin, powerful build. It has almost the same physical ability and strength as an elephant. These animals are known to be extremely aggressive towards humans, so no one wants to take any chances when using them for execution. They will attack and then be killed by other family members should it become necessary. This situation happened in 2014 when after executing 14 prisoners in a single day, five ended up being killed by their family members.
