Death by boiling
Boiling to death is a very slow and painful form of execution by torture.
Methodology
The condemned is stripped naked and either plunged into already boiling liquid or tied up and placed in a giant cauldron of cold liquid, under which the executioner then lights a fire, which heats the liquid until it boils. The liquid used may be oil, acid, tar, or even molten lead.
Historical usage
While not as common as other methods of execution, boiling to death has seen widespread use in Europe and Asia over the past two to three thousand years.
In Europe
For example, it was a legal form of capital punishment during the reign of Henry VIII,[citation needed] reserved for poisoners. In parts of the Low Countries this form of capital punishment was reserved for counterfeiters during the middle ages. In the old town of Deventer the boiling kettle can still be seen today.
In Asia
- The Chinese imperial court used boiling as a form of capital punishment and torture. The Mongol warlord Jamuqa boiled some generals of his rival Genghis Khan alive around the year 1200.
- In the Japanese folk tale of Ishikawa Goemon, Goemon was said to have been boiled in oil as his punishment once caught.
Recent Events
In recent times, Idi Amin of Uganda and the government of Uzbekistan under the regime of Islom Karimov are alleged to have boiled a number of political dissidents, such as Muzafar Avazov by the latter [1].
In fiction
- A cliché depiction of cannibals is of them cooking people alive in a boiling cauldron.
- In James Clavell's novel Shōgun, one of the crew members of the Erasmus is boiled to death in a cauldron.
References
External links
- Boiling as a Form of Capital Punishment (see subtitle half way down page)
- Human Rights Watch: Torture Worldwide: Uzbekistan
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