25 August 1999 :

On August 25, Judge M. H. Shah of the Nadiad Sessions Court handed down a death sentence to Trikam Ravji Thakore alias Tika. The death sentence was pronounced in connection with the rape and subsequent murder of a 4-year-old girl. The day after, the man was transferred to the Vadodara Central Prison (VCP) that, after decades, lodged a prisoner sentenced to death. The VCP is in a dilemma. They will not have a hangman to carry out the death sentence of Trikam Thakore should it be upheld. The prison has no record of anybody who might carry out the execution. "It is too early to arrange for a hangman. The sentence will take time," said jail superintendent Ramnivas Meena. However, a section of officers have had the cell near the gallows white-washed. The cell had been under lock and key for several years, often being used to stock firewood. Birds, an integral part of the VCP family, flocked the gallows till recently.