The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Monica's morale goes south

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Sunday, Oct 01, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Monica's morale goes south

Special Correspondent

Monica Bedi

HYDERABAD: The first day of film actress Monica Bedi as a convict at the Chanchalguda women's prison here on Saturday was a difficult one for her, sources said.

Prison authorities said she kept aloof from other inmates for most of the day but mingled with them towards the evening. When in a better mood, she was counselled to take in her stride the judgment by a special court sentencing her to five years' imprisonment in the fake passport case.

Words of comfort

Her fellow prisoners reportedly tried to comfort her by saying that the option of appealing against the judgment in the High Court was still open to her and she might get some relief at that stage.

On Friday, it was 9 p.m. by the time Ms. Bedi reached the jail after completion of various formalities connected with the pronouncement of the judgment. She was soon enrolled as a convict. In contrast to the eye-catching designer dresses she has been wearing during the past ten months of the trial, she will now have to wear only white. In accordance with the prison rules, she was handed over three pairs of white saris and blouses.

Authorities also said Ms. Bedi had been shifted to one of the barracks meant for convicts.

However, she did not participate in the prison services like others owing to her agitated state of mind. The convicts have to select any one of the several trades for daily avocation but she did not express her choice, they added.

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