Garrote
A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and garrotte) is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone to death. The term especially refers to an execution device, but is sometimes used in assassination because it can be completely silent. In addition, the garrote is used by some military units. Members of the French Foreign Legion are trained in its use. The garrote was employed by Thuggees of India (see below), who used a yellow scarf called a Rumaal. A garrote can be made out of many different materials, including ropes, tie wraps, fishing lines, nylon, and even guitar strings and piano wire.
Some incidents of garrotting have involved a stick used to tighten the garrote; the Spanish name actually refers to that very 'rod', so it is a pars pro toto where the eponymous component may actually be absent. In Spanish, the name can also be applied to a rope and stick used to compress a member as a torture device or to reanimate the victim. One of the reasons possession of a nunchaku is illegal in many jurisdictions is that it can easily be employed as a garrote in some configurations.
In British criminal law, garrotte also was a defined type of violent robbery using at least physical threat against the victims.
Use as an execution device
The garrote particularly refers to the execution device used by the Spaniards until the end of Francisco Franco's dictatorship as recently as 1974. In Spain, it was abolished, as well as the death penalty, in 1978 with the new constitution. Originally, it was an execution where the convict was killed by hitting him with a club ("garrote" in Spanish). Later, it was refined and consisted of a seat to restrain the condemned person while the executioner tightened a metal band around his neck with a crank or a wheel until suffocation of the condemned.
Some versions of this device incorporated a fixed metal blade or spike directed at the spinal cord, to hasten the breaking of the neck.
Thugee
Thuggee (or tuggee) (from Hindi thag `thief', from Sanskrit sthaga `scoundrel', from sthagati `to conceal') was an Indian network of secret fraternities engaged in murdering and robbing travellers, operating from the 17th century (possibly as early as 13th century) to the 19th century. This is the origin of the term "thug", as many Indian words passed into common English during British Imperial rule of India.
Portal:Torture methods and devices
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