unless the Medical Officer certifies that the prisoner is in a fit state of health to undergo such punishment. (ii) If during the execution of a sentence of whipping, the Medical Officer certifies that the prisoner is not in a fit state of health to undergo the remainder of the sentence, the whipping shall be finally stepped (section 394 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code, 1898). Mode of inflicting punishment of whipping: Rule590. (i) No punishment of whipping shall be inflicted in. installments, or except in the presence of the Superintendent and Medical Officer or junior Medical Officer. (ii) Whipping shall be inflicted on the buttocks with a light ratan not less than half an inch in diameter, and in the case of prisoners under sixteen years of age, it shall be inflicted, in the way of school discipline, with a lighter ratan. (Section 53 Act IX, 1894). Explanation.—To prevent undue laceration of the skin, a piece of thin cloth soaked in some antiseptic solution shall be spread over the prisoner's buttocks during the operation. Such cloth shall be thoroughly washed and afterwards soaked in an antiseptic solution before being again brought into use, so as to obviate the possibility of disease of any kind being conveyed from one prisoner to another. Explanation 2.—The drawing stroke which is calculated to lacerate the skin a prohibited. Limits of stripes: Rule591. In case of prisoners of or over sixteen years of age, such punishment shall not exceed thirty stripes, and in case of prisoners under sixteen years of age, it shall not exceed fifteen stripes. 204