Eshan "Alexandré" Nayeck (died 10 October 1987) was a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a melting pot of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious peoples. Mauritian is made up ...

convicted

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

er and the last person to be

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

. On 23 July 1983, 45-year-old Abdool Rashid Atchia was stabbed and killed in the central marketplace of

Rose Hill Rose Hill may refer to: People * Rose Hill (actress) (1914–2003), British actress * Rose Hill (athlete) (born 1956), British wheelchair athlete Film * ''Rose Hill'' (film), a 1997 movie Places Australia * Rose Hill, New South Wales * Rose ...

. The assailant fled in the ensuing confusion. In 1987, Nayeck was arrested and tried for the murder of Atchia. In July 1987, the

assize The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

court convicted him and sentenced him to death. Nayeck appealed to the government for clemency, but it was refused and

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian statesman, politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. The c ...

signed the

execution warrant An execution warrant (also called a death warrant or a black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the Capital punishment, execution of a capital punishment, condemned person. United States In the United States, either a judicial or executi ...

. Nayeck was executed by

hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

at Beau Bassin Prison on 10 October 1987. One hour after his execution, doctors stated that Nayeck had died of

strangulation Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occurs ...

. He was the second person executed by Mauritius since its 1968 independence. The death penalty was abolished in Mauritius in 1995 by the government of the newly elected

Navin Ramgoolam Navinchandra Ramgoolam (born 14 July 1947) is a Mauritian politician and physician who is the current prime minister of Mauritius, serving since 2024. He previously held the office from 1995 to 2000 and from 2005 to 2014 and intermittently serve ...

References

*Deepa Bhookun
"Pour ou contre la peine capitale?"
''L'express'', no. 15707, 2006-02-22 1987 deaths 20th-century executions by Mauritius Executed Mauritian people People executed by Mauritius by hanging People executed for murder Mauritian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Mauritius Year of birth missing Mauritian people of Indian descent {{Mauritius-bio-stub