# Inside Capital Punishment Laws Worldwide as Meerut Blue Drum Murder Case Ends in Death Penalty

> Following the death sentence handed to two convicts in the sensational Meerut blue drum murder trial, an overview highlights how executions are legally carried out across India, the United States, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

**Type:** article · **Category:** Crime · **Published:** 2026-10-14 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/crime/meerut-ke-charchita-hatyakanda-men-phansi-ke-phaisale-ke-bicha-janie-duniya-ke-pramukha-deshon-men-mrityudnda-ke-kanuni-tarike-47456 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Meerut Murder Case, Indian Law, International Law, Human Rights, Lethal Injection

In Uttar Pradesh, the high-profile Meerut blue drum murder case has concluded with a trial court sentencing Muskaan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to the death penalty. The legal proceedings surrounding the killing of Saurabh Rajput reached their final judicial conclusion after approximately 13 months of detailed hearings. In India, capital punishment is reserved exclusively for the most heinous and severe offenses, which made this particular court ruling a subject of widespread national attention. Against the backdrop of this significant sentencing, an examination of the diverse legal mechanisms governing executions across major nations around the globe offers an insightful look into contemporary penal practices.

## The Framework of Capital Punishment in India
The standard criminal justice architecture in India relies on hanging by the neck as the statutory method for carrying out judicial executions. Under the procedural provisions of Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, whenever a court pronounces a death sentence, the formal judicial order mandates that the convict be suspended by the neck until life is extinguished. This supreme penalty cannot be handed down arbitrarily and remains strictly circumscribed by statute to rare, extremely grave crimes. Historical tracking of such executions shows that since gaining independence, India has put 720 convicts to death on the gallows. The most recent instance of hanging in the country took place in 2020, when 4 individuals convicted in the Nirbhaya case were executed.

## Varied State Jurisdictions Across the United States
Within the United States, the execution of condemned prisoners is not governed by a single uniform standard, but rather depends on individual state statutes and regulations. Capital punishment is not in force across all American states, and the jurisdictions that retain it follow differing protocols. The primary and most frequently utilized technique in modern American executions is lethal injection. Additionally, specific state statutes permit alternative execution methods under certain conditions, including the electric chair, firing squads, lethal gas, and hypoxia induced through nitrogen gas inhalation.

## Dual Methods and Official Secrecy in China
In China, the penal regime carries out judicial executions through two primary operational methods: lethal injection and death by firing squad. Nevertheless, the administration does not make official statistics and public records regarding capital punishment openly accessible. Because of this absolute lack of public disclosures, establishing an exact accounting of how many individuals are executed each year or determining how often each specific method is employed remains consistently difficult for external observers.

## Hanging Protocols and Scrutiny in Japan
Japan remains one of the few highly developed economies that continue to maintain and implement capital punishment within its criminal justice system. The Japanese penal code specifies hanging as the sole mechanism for carrying out death sentences. However, the operational execution protocols in the country, particularly regarding institutional transparency and the practice of giving death row inmates extremely short advance notice before execution, have frequently drawn sharp criticism from global human rights organizations.

## Beheading Practices in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has long maintained the legal tradition of beheading as its hallmark method for enforcing capital punishment. Findings published by Amnesty International in 2025 note that alongside beheading, execution by firing squad is also utilized within the country. The broad implementation of capital punishment by Saudi authorities, together with the wide range of offenses that carry the death penalty under their legal system, continues to provoke serious concerns among international human rights monitors.

## Public Executions and Hanging in Iran
In Iran, death sentences are legally administered by hanging the condemned individual. Documentation compiled by Amnesty International for the year 2025 reveals that certain executions in Iran were carried out in public spaces before onlookers. International rights groups have repeatedly raised objections over the escalating frequency of executions in the country, persistent flaws concerning the fairness of judicial trials, and the pervasive lack of transparency surrounding the entire capital punishment process.

## What this means for you
This report clarifies how capital punishment operates across global jurisdictions and underscores the legal standards governing supreme penalties.

- **Across India:** Readers gain clarity that Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 strictly limits hanging to exceptional and heinous offenses. The enforcement of such sentences follows rigorous judicial appellate scrutiny and strict legal safeguards.
- **In Uttar Pradesh:** The delivery of a verdict within 13 months by the Meerut court highlights a focused timeline for prosecuting grave criminal offenses locally. It demonstrates the local judicial machinery's ability to conclude high-profile trials without protracted delays.
- **For international travelers:** Individuals residing abroad or traveling internationally must remain aware of local penal codes and severe sentencing guidelines. Legal frameworks governing capital offenses vary substantially across nations like the United States, Saudi Arabia, and China.
- **Human rights awareness:** The overview illustrates how international monitors assess judicial transparency and fair trial standards globally. It provides citizens with context on how global rights bodies evaluate state execution procedures.

## Why this happened
This comparative overview emerged after a trial court in Meerut sentenced two convicts to death in the high-profile Saurabh Rajput murder trial. The sentence prompted wider interest into how different judicial systems around the world administer extreme penal sanctions.

- **Immediate trigger:** The Meerut court convicted Muskaan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla following a 13-month trial and sentenced both to capital punishment. This severe judicial ruling revived public discussion surrounding lawful methods of execution globally.
- **Statutory foundation:** Under Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Indian law reserves hanging solely for exceptionally grave offenses. Since independence, 720 convicts have been executed in India, with the last execution taking place in 2020 for the 4 convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
- **Global divergence:** Different jurisdictions have adopted distinct execution techniques such as lethal injection, beheading, firing squads, or hanging based on their respective legal frameworks. These disparate methods continue to draw scrutiny from international monitoring groups regarding fair trial standards and transparency.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. What verdict did the court deliver in the Meerut blue drum murder case?
Following an approximately 13-month trial, the court sentenced Muskaan Rastogi and Sahil Shukla to death for the murder of Saurabh Rajput.

### 2. What does Section 393(5) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 prescribe regarding executions?
The provision mandates that upon sentencing an individual to death, the order must direct that the convict be hanged by the neck until dead.

### 3. How many individuals have been executed in India since independence?
A total of 720 convicts have been executed by hanging in India since the country gained independence.

### 4. When was the last execution carried out in India and who was executed?
The most recent execution in India took place in 2020, when 4 convicts in the Nirbhaya case were hanged.

### 5. What execution methods are utilized in the United States?
Lethal injection is the most common method, alongside legal options in certain states for the electric chair, firing squads, lethal gas, and nitrogen gas.

### 6. Why is it challenging to assess exact execution figures in China?
China does not publicly release official capital punishment records, making an accurate accounting of annual execution numbers difficult.

### 7. What method of capital punishment is utilized in Japan?
Japan administers capital punishment through hanging, a practice that faces scrutiny regarding procedural transparency and inmate notifications.

### 8. What execution methods were documented for Saudi Arabia and Iran in Amnesty International's 2025 report?
The report notes beheading and firing squads in Saudi Arabia, and hanging alongside instances of public executions in Iran.

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