In Assam jail for 4 yrs, Nepalese woman severely ill before her return to home

Jannat Khatun, a Nepali citizen who was imprisoned in the Central Jail Transit Camp here in Assam in November 2018, has been admitted to the hospital with multiple ailments.

She was arrested in the Katigorah area of Cachar district more than four years ago for allegedly entering India illegally. However, her family in Nepal had no clue about Khatun's whereabouts.

She was sent to jail after legal proceedings. At the end of the trial, the court announced a two-year sentence for her. The sentence expired on December 27, 2020. The woman has since been kept in the Central Jail Transit Camp (formerly Detention Camp) in Silchar.

A couple of months ago, through an organisation called Bal Suraksha Abhiyan in the Kalimpong area of West Bengal, Khatun's family received news that she was imprisoned in Silchar.

Following that, her son, Feroz Leheri, along with two relatives, rushed here last week.

They went to the jail to meet Khatun, and Leheri said that he would complete all the procedures within a day or two and take his mother back to Nepal.

Meanwhile, Khatun fell ill last week and has been admitted to the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH).

The principal of SMCH, Dr. Babul Bezbaruah, told IANS: "She has been suffering from multiple illnesses. She has gallstones and anaemia. However, we could not operate on her for the removal of a gallstone as she has jaundice too. Though the patient is stable now, her situation is complicated. We are keeping a close watch on her."

It has been alleged that after the completion of her jail sentence, no steps were taken to send her back to Nepal. The superintendent of Central Jail in Silchar sent a letter to the authorities regarding this, but there was no response.

Sadhan Purkayastha, a member of the Citizens Rights Protection Committee, a human rights organisation, said that the woman had been admitted to the hospital and that the government should not delay things so much that her family ends up taking her dead body home.

"In 2018, my mother sustained a head injury. Following that, she lost some of her mental balance, and she went missing from home one day. We searched everywhere but could not trace her. We also filed a missing person report at the Haripur police station in the area where we live. But we failed to get any trace of her," said Feroze Leheri.