The strappado is a form of torture.
There are two variants of this torture. On the first one, the victim has his arms tied behind his back and then a large rope is tied to his wrists and passed over a beam or a hook on the roof. The torturer pulls on this rope until the victim is hanging from his arms. Since he has the hands tied behind the back, this will cause a very intense pain and possible dislocation of the arms.
On the second variant, the victim's hands are tied to the front. The victim will also be hanged from the hands, but now his ankles would also be tied and a heavy weight would be hanged from them. This will not only cause pain and possible damage to the arms, but also to the legs and hips.
