Chinese drop

The so-called Chinese drop, water drop torture, Chinese martyrdom or Chinese torture is a method of psychological torture. It should not be confused with the Malayan boot, another method of torture that, due to its homophony, is sometimes heard as "Malay drop".

Description

It consisted of immobilizing a prisoner in a supine position - lying on his back - so that a drop of cold water fell on his forehead every five seconds. After a few hours, the continuous dripping caused physical damage to his skin., similar to what the fingertips suffer after an immersion bath.

But the real torture for the victim was the madness that would be caused by not being able to sleep, due to the constant interruption of the drops, nor being able to drink that water when thirst attacked, with which a few days later the death would occur. death due to cardiac arrest.

It is for this reason that any uncomfortable and unpleasant situation when it is repeated or sustained over time is also known figuratively and by extension as "Chinese torture".