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Annamma returns after 15 years in jail

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For 80-year old Annamma, who has spent 15 years behind bars after her conviction in a murder case in 1992, Friday proved to be a day of deliverance. The elderly woman, accompanied by her brother, returned home thanks to a campaign waged by the Committee Against Capital Punishment.

Annamma did not forget to visit her saviours on her day of liberty after 15 years in prison. Accompanied by her brother P.M. Mathai, she reached the pandal where Committee Against Capital Punishment convener K. Girish Kumar is on an indefinite fast to greet him before she left for her home at Prakkanam in Pathanamthitta.

Annamma is one of the many prisoners languishing in jail because the Prison Advisory Committee recommendations on release of eligible prisoners are not being acted upon owing to various reasons. Annamma was sentenced to life imprisonment and her son for eight years rigorous imprisonment. Her son left the prison on completion of his sentence, but she was forced to remain behind bars as the crime for which she was convicted for the murder of a woman. The release norms are stricter in cases involving death of women. The committee had submitted several petitions to the Government seeking the release of prisoners like her.

Annamma is stated to have been the oldest woman prisoner in Kerala. Although cheerful, she has several age-related ailments including loss of memory, but she was all happiness as she sat and thanked Girish Kumar and his compatriots at the venue of his indefinite fast.

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