19-Aug-2013MIDNAPORE: A deaf and mute youth, who had been picked up by joint forces on the charge of being a Maoist from Duli village in West Midnapore's Salboni three years ago, has been released for want of evidence. TOI had highlighted Rameswar Murmu's plight in the days follwing his arrest, highlighting that he was mentally challenged and suffered from epilepsy. Rameswar was acquitted by the Midnapore chief judicial magistrate (CJM) A Bhattacharya on Friday. The acquittal came after the CID submitted a report in court stating that it found "no evidence" against Rameswar. Though Rameswar, who was lodged in the Alipore jail, secured bail on December 18, 2010, his family members didn't come forward to get him out of jail, claiming they were "not familiar" with Kolkata. The youth, who was 20 years old then, had been picked up after a six-hou r operation by joint forces in the Ranjya forest in Salboni. He was apparently the only one caught alive after an encounter where 8 suspected Maoists were found dead. The raid was conducted under the DSP, operations, Anish Sarkar. Rameswar's house is near the encounter site. Though police could not extract anything from the youth, he was branded a hardcore Maoist and slapped with the most stringent of charges. The police FIR (Salboni PS case No. 58) showed Rameswar was charged with sedition (sections 121, 122, 123, 124A of the IPC), the Arms Act (sections 25 and 27) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (sections 16, 18 and 20). During one of the court hearings, his father Bankim Murmu had submitted a bunch of medical records which showed that his son had epilepsy since birth and developed problems at a very young age, which led to speech loss. The court had remanded him in judicial custody and ordered that Rameswar be kept at Alipore jail.The jail a uthorities were asked to get his ailment treated. Though Rameswar secured bail on December 18, 2010, his family did not come forward to get him out of jail. Thus, he remained in jail all these years. On Friday, Rameswar's father Bankim Murmu received him as the youth came out of the court lock-up after his acquittal and discharge from the case. He said, "My son had been arrested though he was completely innocent." Asked why he had not taken Rameswar out of Alipore jail after he got bail, Bankim said he didn't go as he did not know Kolkata. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Youth-branded-as-Maoist-released-from-jail/articleshow/21906425.cms -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/MhaNewsViewsIndia?hl=en ------------- Affiliated Groups : MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY INDIA [email protected] Discussions on mental health law / policy / plan monitoring / human rights etc [email protected] India-specific news and views related to mental health [email protected] Information and support to carers of people with mental health issues [email protected] Mutual support and sharing of experiential knowledge, skills and social learning amongst peers --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mental Health Advocacy (News 'N Views) India" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
