#India- Activists demand release of Soni Sori #Vaw

Hindu, New Delhi, 8.8.2013

Various women’s groups today demanded release of adivasi activist Soni Sori, who was arrested for alleged Maoist links, and criticised authorities for not “granting her parole” after her husband’s death last week. release of adivasi activist Soni Sori, who was arrested for alleged Maoist links, and criticised authorities for not “granting her parole” after her husband’s death last week.

Demanding her “unconditional release”, the women groups said the adivasi activist was falsely implicated in various cases.”It is beyond belief that she was denied bail for a few days to allow her to make arrangements for her three young children after the death of their father,” said Kalpana Mehta, convener of Women against Sexual Violence and State Repression.

“Even a convict is allowed to visit her family on parole. Soni, against whom the state has not gathered any evidence till date, wasn’t allowed to make settlements for her three children after her husband’s death,” said activist Himanshu Kumar at a press conference here.

36-year-old Sori, a teacher in a government school in Naxal-hit Dantewada district, was arrested in Delhi in October last year on charges of receiving money on behalf of Maoists from a corporate entity. She is now lodged in a jail in Raipur.

She had later accused Chhattisgarh police of torturing her in police custody.

Chhattisgarh police also arrested Sori’s husband Anil Futane in July 2010 in connection with her wife’s alleged links with Maoists.

He spent three years in prison where he suffered a paralytic stroke in April. Futane died last week.

“In addition to the release of Soni, we also demand a systematic review of the under trials languishing in over crowded jails by an independent committee and immediate release of those found to be false implicated,” saidSanjeev Kumar of the Delhi Solidarity Group.