INDIA: Jail authorities bail out 80-year-old

. AHMEDABAD, Gujarat / The Times of India / Society / August 23, 2009 When Daliya Nayak, 83, an undertrial at the Chhota Udepur jail, got to know of his bail application being selected after spending four months in prison, he was not happy. He was not sure what would happen once he is released as he does not have any family to fall back on. But the jail authorities came to his aid. Keshav Kumar, inspector general of police (prisons), told TOI, “During an inspection of the jail on August 15, he told me his sons refused to bail him out as they saw him as being of no use. He said he did not have much life left in him and feared he would die in jail. Nayak was arrested in 1990 for theft. After spending considerable time, when he got a bail, he never again reported to the court. Thus, he was again arrested in April,” he said. The jail authorities, moved by his case, approached Legal Services Authority at Gujarat High Court who helped Nayak in getting bail on August 21 with Chhota Udepur jail authorities giving his jail. Jayesh Mandavia, superintendent of Vadodara central jail, said, “When the jailor went to his village, he got to know that the family members, being labourers, had shifted and left the old man to his fate. However, when the sarpanch of the village got to know of the case, he assured us that the village would take care of him and become his family. It was due to them that he is not spending his days in an old age home,” he said. [rc] Copyright © 2009 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.