‘Our Sons Will Come Home Only in Body Bags’, Fear the Families of SIMI Suspects

Wajid Hussain Nagori (24), including his own, also supports his brother’s family – his wife and three children. Wajid makes his ends meet by selling soft drinks at a local market in Ujjain’s Mahidpur tehsil. After every eight days, he travels nearly 200 kilometres to meet his elder brother, a SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) suspect lodged in Bhopal Central Jail.

Wajid’s worries increase every day. His brother, Sajid Hussain Nagori aka Guddu (35), is being “denied proper medical treatment” by the jail authorities. Sajid is suffering from piles, which can prove fatal, if not treated on time.

Prison officials allegedly did not provide him cotton and hot water necessary to clean the profuse bleeding that continued for a good two months after the jail break that took place on October 31 night and the encounter of eight SIMI under trials the following morning on a hilltop on the outskirts of Bhopal.

“My brother is suffering from piles and the jail doctors have prescribed surgery. But forget about surgery, he is not even being given basic medical treatment. He was not given clothes to change. For two months, he was in the same cloth that had got infected and stinking because of the bleeding. We take new clothes for him in almost all our visit to jail. The officials keep it with them but do not give him to change,” Wajid told NewsClick in Ujjain.

After the crackdown on suspected SIMI activists back in 2008, Sajid had surrendered before Chief Judicial Magistrate on January 20, 2014, after “he came to know that the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorists Squad (ATS) had announced a head money of Rs 15,000 on him” for his alleged affiliation with the banned outfit.

The family says this is the first case slapped against Sajid. “We come from a very humble background. My brother used to drive auto to bear the family expenses. How can he think about carrying out a terror strike in the country,” he added.

“Solitary confinement”, “denial of access to lawyers and medical treatment”, “non-supply” of food and water” and “inhuman behaviour” on the part of prison officials have allegedly become the fate of the under trial prisoners of SIMI who are lodged in the high-security prison following the jailbreak and subsequent encounter.

Md Sajid (29), then just a 21-year-old, was picked on June 11, 2011, by the ATS from Jabalpur where he had gone to search a job. He was skilled in zari (embroidery) works but the local market had a dearth of jobs.

After the arrest of his only son, his father – a goods van driver – slipped into depression. He met with an accident and lost the strength in both of his legs. He is unable to work now. Sajid has four sisters, one of whom is married. The entire family runs on the meagre income of his two sisters – one of whom is a lab technician and the other a teacher in a private school.

“Bhai ke saath bahut zyada bura ho raha hai...unhen akeli cell men rakha gaya hai jahan na dhoop aati hai aur na hawa...ek ghante ke liye hi nikalte hain unhen...aise mein to unka dimagh hi kharab ho jayega...encounter ke baad bahut torture karte hain (My brother is being ill-treated in the jail...he has been placed in solitary confinement where there is no sunlight and air...he is taken out only for an hour...if it continues, he would lose his mental balance. )

One of his sisters said when she along with her mother and another sister last met Sajid on the occasion of Eid, he had many bruises on his body. But he – according to the sister – avoided talking about how it happened. “Bas itna baar baar kah rahe the ki meri zamanat karwao, main bahot pareshan hun (He was only asking us to get him out on bail as he is in trouble),” she added.

“Bhai pe itna pressure hai ki woh khul kar kuch nai batate hain...unhen daraya jata hai ki agar ghar walon ko kuch bataya to jaan se maar denge (My brother is under extreme pressure and therefore he does not tell us anything clearly...he is threatened that he would be killed if he disclosed anything before his family members),” the sister alleged.

She further alleged that the family members are also treated ill when they go visit him in the prison. “The jail officials misbehave with us as well. Our bodies are frisked in an objectionable manner which is not common for the relatives of other prisoners. They say, ‘Tum log isi layaq ho (You deserve this treatment)’,” she said with moist eyes.

The family is unable to find “good match” for the rest three daughters who are yet to be married. “Our second sister who is 24 years old is yet to be married. Rishta aata hai lekin bhai ka sun kar choot jata hai (We get proposals but when they come to know about our brother’s arrest, they refuse to go ahead),” said the young girl, who has studied B.Sc (Microbiology) and has been working with a local diagnostic centre.

She said she wanted to become a doctor but the financial condition of the family did not allow her. “We have a limited income which is less around Rs 5,000 a month. Out of which we have to spend Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 on every visit to jail. In this condition, how can we think otherwise,” she added.

The youngest of the four sisters is pursuing 12th in commerce stream and want to become a chartered accountant. “Our brother will come out clean one day as he is not involved in any terror activity. Things will improve one day and I will achieve my target,” said the confident young girl who had just returned from school.

Similar stories of gross human rights violations were narrated by other family members and relatives of the SIMI under trial prisoners lodged in the prison.

NewsClick spoke to Md Ishteyaq, father of Md Sajid alias Sheru, a standard ninth dropout who was picked up and arrested with Sajid eight days after they together went to Jabalpur to earn a livelihood.

“Aisa lagta hai ki hamare bachon ki ab lash hi wapas aayegi (It appears that we will get back the bodies of our children given the treatment they are meted out in the prison. I feel the agencies and the government do not want to let them walk free,” said the 60-year-old hopeless father who runs a small tailoring shop at New Hari Pathak Road, Begum Bagh Colony, in Ujjain.

Others whom, Newsclick correspondent spoke to are Mukhtar Nagori, uncle and father in law of Adil Nagori.

Adil was a painter. He was picked up from his house at Nagor Mohalla in Ujjain by the ATS for questioning. He was later arrested and presented in court after three days of extrajudicial custody. He has some mental illness. “His eyesight is also weak but jail officials have denied him spectacles because of which he always complains of a headache. His entire body shivers all the time,” said Mukhtar.

We also to spoke the relatives of other inmates. There was one common complaint that the accused are not being provided with enough water. “They are given three bottles of water in 24 hours for drinking, bathing and other works. They have been given a jug for everything – drinking, bathing and going to the toilet,” majority of the prisoners’ relatives complained.

But jail officials denied all allegations saying it is a pressure tactic so that we can let them enjoy special privilege.

“The allegation regarding torture and denial of other basic needs are baseless. We follow jail manual and the Constitution of the country. We will not allow any inmate to enjoy special privilege,” Jail Superintendent Dinesh Nargave told NewsClick.

Regarding solitary confinement, he said that it is true that they have been kept in separate cells after the jail break but he denied that it constitutes solitary confinement.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.