Iron maiden torture device: Encyclopedia II - Iron maiden torture device - Operation

Iron maiden torture device - Operation

The condemned prisoner purportedly had to pass through seven rooms with seven doors before his scheduled execution. At the end of a long corridor he found himself looking into the face of an iron wardrobe that vaguely resembled a female form. On the outside, the Maiden appeared harmless and unthreatening, while inside were hidden spikes of iron that were designed to torture slowly rather than kill.

The doors of the Maiden were shut slowly, so that the very sharp points penetrated a man’s arms, and his legs in several places, along with his belly and chest, bladder, eyes, shoulders, and his buttocks, but not enough to kill him. Historical experts have theorized that the spikes on the inside of the doors may have been moveable. They were thought to have been able to be repositioned and/or relocated depending on the individual requirements of the person’s body and their crime. The overall result would be more or less lethal and mutilating depending upon where the spikes were located.

The point of this deadly object was to impale the victim and inflict extreme pain and punishment - and also, like most instruments of torture, to intimidate the prisoner before actual use, so that he confessed.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Operation", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki