Wife says Binayak Sen ‘caged’ like animal

Human rights activist Binayak Sen, sentenced to life for alleged sedition, is being forced to live like an animal in Raipur jail, his wife Ilina has alleged.

He is kept like “an animal in a cage’’, Ilina said, addressing the media on Monday, first time after her husband’s conviction. She said Binayak had been kept in “solitary confinement in a small cell”.

“Even animals in the zoo have enough space to move around. He is allowed to come out for two hours in the morning and two hours in evening,” Illina said as she pledged to fight for her husband’s freedom, on the eve of his 61st birthday.

She said she feared for his life, her daughters and herself, and might not hesitate in seeking political asylum in another country as she didn’t feel safe in the country anymore.

She said was preparing to move the Chhattisgarh high court to challenge the sentence. “My faith in the judiciary has been shaken. I hope to see Binayak free some day, but if the state has its way, I will only get to see his dead body out of the jail,” she said.
Binayak’s conviction was part of a larger conspiracy, Ilina said.

“As long as he was working as a doctor there was no problem. But then he started talking against Salwa Judum and became part of People’s Union for Civil Liberty (PUCL). He was against exploitation of tribals and their resources while the government is in the process of signing MoUs with companies to allow them mining in these areas,” she said.