104-year-old man walks out of Bengal jail after 36 years

A 104-year-old man released from West Bengal’s Malda Correctional Home after languishing in jail for 36 years said he will spend time with his family members and do gardening.

Rasikt Mondal was sentenced to life imprisonment by District and Sessions court in Malda in 1992 after being arrested in 1988, on the charge of murdering his brother in a land dispute case.

He had been enlarged on bail for about one year and given parole another time but again went back to the prison once the bail period was over and the high court turned down his pleas for release on past occasions.

Mondal, a resident of Manikchak in Malda district, told reporters emerging out of the gate of Malda Correctional Home on Tuesday that he will now devote full time to gardening/nurturing plants and spending time with family members.

Asked how old was he, Mondal mumbled 108 years but his son, accompanying him, corrected that he was 104. Correctional home authorities said records showed he was 104.

“I don’t remember how many years I had spent in jail. It seemed never-ending. I don’t even recall when I was brought here,” the elderly man, looking remarkably agile considering his age, said.

However, he added “Now I have come out. I can do justice to my passion - attending plants in the small garden in my courtyard. I missed my family and grandchildren. Want to be with them.” Mondal’s son Prakash said his father was released following an order from the Supreme Court.

“After serving a considerable period in prison, every prisoner is entitled to release from prison if he has not committed any improper act during incarceration as informed by our lawyer. Happy the SC finally paved the way for his release,” the son said.

Mondal had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 when he was 72 years old.

However, during the hearing at Calcutta High Court, he was released on bail. He went back to the correctional home as the high court upheld the life sentence verdict of the lower court.

In 2020, he was granted parole but went back to the correctional home in 2021 and remained lodged in lock up till the SC issued the order last month.

“I am very happy,” his wife, octogenarian Meena Mondal said.

The elderly man, who used to do physical exercise during his stay in prison and looked fit considering his advanced age, claimed “I am innocent and a victim of circumstances.”