Kolkata: Just imagine a man having been sent to prison a few years after turning senior citizen and walking out of jail as a centenarian!
Well, it’s not a figment of anyone’s imagination. It’s the real life story of Rasik Mondal.
The 104-year-old Mondal was recently released from Malda Correctional Home in West Bengal after spending 36 years behind the bars, reported PTI.
According to jail authorities, this is a rarest of rare cases of 100-year-plus inmate living in a jail in the state.
Now that he is free, a relieved Mondal said he will spend time with his family and do gardening, which was his “passion.”
It was in 1988 that Mondal was sentenced to judicial custody on the charge of murdering his brother in a land dispute case.
He had been enlarged on bail for about a year, but went back to prison once the bail period was over. His subsequent bail petitions were turned down by the session court and high court.
A resident of Manikchak in Malda district, Mondal was asked how old he was as he emerged from the gate of Malda Correctional Home on Tuesday.
“108 years,” he mumbled.
His son, who had come to take Mondal home, corrected his age as 104, which was corroborated by Correctional home authorities.
“I don’t remember how many years I spent in jail. It seemed never-ending. I don’t even recall when I was brought here,” said the old man who looked remarkably agile considering his age.
“Now I have come out I can do justice to my passion — attending to plants in the small garden in my courtyard. I missed my family and grandchildren… Want to be with them,” Mondal said.
His son said the release followed an order from the Supreme Court.
“After certain years, every prisoner is entitled to release from prison if he has not committed any improper act during incarceration. Happy the Supreme Couty finally paved the way for his release,” the son said.
