Torture that goes beyond madness
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2005 09:03:45 PM ]
Surf 'N' Earn -Sign innow
NEW DELHI: If any proof of the complete failure of criminal justice
system was needed, here are not one but five examples.
NHRC has come upon a case of five undertrials who have spent decades
in jail. One of them has spent 54 years in jail, while the other four
have prison experience of more than three decades each.
All are now inmates of a mental hospital in Tezpur.
An upset commission on Friday asked inspector general (prisons),
Assam, and the state's chief secretary to respond within two weeks.
The matter was reported to the commission by its rapporteur Chaman
Lal who visited the hospital on March 31 and April 1.
While all cases are shocking, the worst is the plight of Machang
Lalung, now 77, who has been an undertrial for 54 years. The others
are Khalilur Rehman, who has spent 35 years there, Anil Kumar Burman,
who has been there for 33 years, Sonamani Deb, for 32 years, and
Parbati Mallik, who has been in the mental asylum for 32 years.
Lalung now works in the hospital garden without communicating with anybody.
The medical superintendent has stated that he is not on any
psychotropic medicine for several years and is free of any active
signs of mental illness. Despite that, Lalung has not been produced
in the trial court after August 9, 1967.
Similarly, Rehman has been in the judicial custody since 1963 and
continues to be in judicial custody despite being declared fit.
Burman also remained at the institute despite being fit to be
discharged from April 20, 1974.
Deb's case is equally shocking. He was admitted to the hospital in
1972 at the age of 16 years. A destitute, he was found 'not guilty'
on account of being insane at the time of crime. NHRC said the
information available does not indicate the present status of his
mental illness and the steps taken for his rehabilitation in case he
is fit for discharge.
Mallik was admitted in 1977 when she was 21. According to the
information available with NHRC, she was charged with murder of her
mother. Her case could have been decided if she was released earlier
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