The Hindu : Karnataka News : Chitradurga resident languishing in U.S. prison

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Chitradurga resident languishing in U.S. prison

Firoz Rozindar

Naveen lodged in a Pennsylvania jail for over nine months

He has been arrested on charges of sexual assault against a minor girl
Naveen says that he was falsely framed as he only chatted with the girl on the Net

Naveen Ningappa

Chitradurga: “It has been over nine months since he has been arrested. We do not have any idea how to get him released, or who could help us in getting him back to India,” says R. Ningappa in a choked voice.

Since October last year, Mr. Ningappa’s son, Naveen Ningappa (28), an associate consultant of HCL, a multinational software company, has been languishing in a Pennsylvania jail in the U.S.

According to Mr. Ningappa, a high school teacher, his son, who was working in the Chennai branch of HCL, went to New Jersey on project work in April 2007.

But in the last week of October, he was arrested in Pennsylvania on charges of sexual assault against a minor girl. However, in the letters written to the family, Mr. Naveen claims that he was falsely framed as he had only chatted with the girl on an Internet site.

On October 26, Mr. Ningappa’s elder son, Sridhar, is who studying for his M. Tech, in Bangalore received a communication from Mr. Naveen’s roommates in New Jersey that Naveen was not seen for two days. “When I spoke to the HR department of company in the U.S., they sent me an e-mail stating that my brother has been arrested and kept in Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania. It was extremely shocking to hear this, and it all appeared meaningless, like someone playing a nasty prank,” he said.

Mr. Sridhar said that he wrote a letter to the U.S. jail to confirm the news, and in reply he received the first letter from Mr. Naveen on November 1. “In the letter he said that he has been charged of some grievous crime which he never committed. He said that the court could release him if he paid a bail of $500,000. It is impossible for us to pay such a huge amount,” said Mr. Sridhar.

Mr. Sridhar said that he met Union Minister M. V. Rajasekharan last December seeking the Government of India’s intervention.

The Union Minister, in turn, asked them to obtain a letter from the company stating that it would not take up the case, so that the Union Government could initiate some action.

“We went to Chennai office of HCL and after much persuasion, they just gave a letter confirming my brother’s employment with them. They would not acknowledge our request to hire an advocate to defend the case.”

Mr. Sridhar said that they even tried to contact some U.S.-based Kannada organisations for help, but that too was unsuccessful.

The rest of the family was unaware of all this. “I did not know how to break the news to my father. But when I failed in all attempts to help my brother, I reluctantly told to my father some 10 days ago,” Mr. Sridhar said.

A traumatised Mr. Ningappa has had sleepless nights ever since.

“How do I bear this pain? Fearing social stigma, I did not reveal this news to anybody. But a close friend convinced me to share this information with the media,” he said.

When The Hindu contacted R. Karthik, Manager, HR, at HCL Chennai, he refused to give any information.

In his four letters to his family, Mr. Naveen has written about the trauma he is going through in a totally strange place. And here too his family is groping in the dark. They hope that if nothing else, the Government of India comes to their rescue.

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