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Sikh dies of starvation in US jail

Washington, April 5
An elderly and wheelchair-bound Sikh inmate, who was a former head granthi at a local gurdwara, died of starvation in a California state prison, where he also faced brutal abuse by security guards, a media report alleged. “On February 16, 72-year-old Khem Singh passed away at the Substance Abuse Facility at Corcoran State Prison.

Crippled and bound to a wheelchair, he died of lung and heart failure brought on as a result of starvation, India Post, an ethnic weekly published from multiple centres in the US, said. “Fellow inmates repeatedly alerted the authorities about his condition but allegedly no action was taken,” the report said alleging that it was the first case of a starvation death in a California state prison.

Khem Singh was accused of “inappropriate behaviour” with a child and was sentenced to 27 years in prison in June 2001. — PTI