In Alabama, America, a murder convict was given death penalty by inhaling nitrogen gas.
This is the first case of its kind. With this, the debate regarding death penalty has erupted again in the US. State administration says this new method is humane, but critics have called it cruel.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was inhaled nitrogen gas through a face mask Thursday, resulting in his death from lack of oxygen, officials said.
Smith was declared dead at an Alabama prison at 8:25 p.m.
In America, the provision of giving death penalty by lethal injection started after 1982 and since then this method is generally adopted for giving death penalty.
This is the first case of death penalty by inhaling nitrogen in America. The state had also tried to give death penalty in 2022 to Smith, convicted in a 1988 case of murdering a man’s wife by taking betel nut from him, but it was stopped at the last minute due to some technical problem.
Used as a test item: Lawyer
Smith was executed by asphyxiation with nitrogen after losing a legal battle against the new sentencing method.
Smith’s lawyers claimed that the state was using him as a test subject to experiment with a punishment method that could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual methods of punishment.
The US Supreme Court rejected Smith’s petition on Thursday night.
There is a lot of discussion on social media regarding this matter and people have given different types of reactions. While on one hand some people have supported it, on the other hand people are also against it.