IANS

Kolkata, May 28: Nata Mullick hanged criminals with pride and calmly all his life. But was shaken by the enactment of his chilling job at home as his daughter-in-law committed suicide.

Uma, the 36-year-old daughter-in-law of Mullick, ended her life on Saturday morning, police said.

The 87-year-old hangman, who shot into fame with the hanging of rape and murder convict Dhanonjoy Chatterjee in August 2004, was shocked by the suicide in his family.

Police said it was a case of suicide prima facie though the manner of her hanging - from an almirah handle not too high - was somewhat strange.

"I've done this job on several occasions and have carried so many bodies. But this is something I was just not prepared for at this age," Mullick said in his Tollygunge home in south Kolkata that was the focus of media spotlight during the August of 2004 when Chatterjee was hanged, triggering a huge row over capital punishment.

Uma was suffering from psychiatric disorders and undergoing treatment, Mullick said.

"I woke up and found Ma sitting in front of the almirah. Her head was bent forward and a sari was around her neck," said Jaydip, 8, son of Uma.

Uma was married to Mahadeb, who works in Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Drawing from his chilling experience of hanging people, Mullick said, "One can die in such a manner - from a low height like an almirah handle - since the noose becomes tight and constricts the windpipe and the victim cannot loosen the noose."

Mullick said Uma was suffering from a "strange pain" in her head and was undergoing treatment.

"At times the pain would be unbearable for her," he said.

Mullick has carried out 25 hangings since his joining the profession as a teenager.

"I joined the profession when I was around 15 or 16. My father Shiblal Mullick had two helpers who would ridicule me saying I would never be able to do the job. I was hot-blooded and so one day I joined the job. A man was going to the gallows and I tied his hands at the back and proved that I am not chicken-hearted. That was the beginning," Mullick recalled.

The global media spotlight had turned on Mullick as the "hangman extraordinaire" chosen to perform the execution of Chatterjee.

The resulting passionate debate over capital punishment elevated Mullick to fame and launched him on a new career as a much-in-demand Jatra artist in West Bengal.