Assam: The Supreme Court has granted interim relief of Rs three lakh to an Assamese man, who was kept in jail for 54 years without a trial.
The court also ordered the Assam government to give Machang Lalung Rs 1,000 every month and take care of his medical needs.
Describing Lalung's detention as a shocking incident, the Supreme Court has asked the Assam Government to conduct a probe and identify officials responsible for the incident.
The criminal case against Lalung has also been closed.
For 77-year-old Machang Lalung, justice came 54 years too late — a lifetime to transform a 23-year-old into a frail old man and long enough for him to forget the reason he was sent to jail in the first place.
Lalung was arrested in 1951 for a petty crime and never faced a trial. He languished in jail for nearly 54 years — first in police custody and later at the Tezpur Mental hospital.
"I feel happy to be with my family but I don't remember why I was taken to jail," says he.
After living in an asylum for so long, Lalung can barely put his thoughts across.
His neice Sadhna Pator, with whom he now lives, is just happy that she finally got a chance to meet her uncle.
"I remember my mother telling me about him through i had never seen him before. See he lost his fingers after a fit of epilepsy in his younger days. Mother used to tell us about this incident," she says.
Lalung has got his share of freedom at last but his niece and family feels that this freedom has come too late for him.
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