Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
RASHKB and author
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
49
A: No—it was abolished by the thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1886. The right of imposing it existed before that, but as long ago as at the time of Ippolito Desideri in the eighteenth century, he recorded that it was very rarely done. It is one of those things that you hear about and imagine to be common, but in fact it was very rare.
Q: What was the maximum punishment meted to a murderer?
A: He would probably be handcuffed, hand and foot, and put into some sort of dungeon, and kept there for an indefinite period and then perhaps allowed to go about still in his handcuffs. It was not very pleasant, but at least it was rare, for murder was very rare, and no very large expenditure was needed on prison administration.