A 104-year-old man, Rashik Chandra, doesn’t remember the reason behind his imprisonment, as he was released from Malda Correctional Home 36 years later on Monday, Dec 02. He lived in Paschim Narayanpur village in Malda district. Rashik was arrested for murdering his brother following a property issue.
On 29 November, a Supreme Court Division Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar issued an order granting parole to Rashik. The order came 24 years after he was convicted on the charge of murdering his brother, Suresh Mondol by a lower court in 1988.
Rashik can exactly recall the entire incident of the property dispute and the subsequent murder of the brother. He returned home with his kid, Uttam Mondal. When Rashi was 68 years old, a Malda court condemned Rashik and another individual to life in prison after a formal complaint was filed in 1988 over the murder case.
Rashik appealed the sentence in 2018 and then he approached the Supreme Court in 2020 when he was 99, and the Hon’ble Supreme Court asked the West Bengal Government to submit a health report of Rashik.
For Rashik’s family, the order of his release comes after years of court procedures and spending lakhs of money. Rashik wants to engage in gardening and meet villagers.
