Ticketless travel costs villager his life

The poor villager had not purchased a ticket of Rs 56 (the fare between Mughalsarai and Ara), and as such was caught during magistrate checking. Since he failed to pay the fare, he was slapped a fine of Rs 1,106. Choudhary, who could not afford to pay Rs 56, was being asked to cough up a penalty in four digits.

Eventually, he was sent to the Ara jail, where he was allegedly beaten up by havildar Anil Paswan, homeguard jawan Sudarshan Singh and some other prisoners. After he sustained grievous injuries, he was rushed to Sadar Hospital, where he died on June 9, 2010, while undergoing treatment.

The prison authorities, however, washed their hands of and claimed that Choudhary was an alcoholic and sustained injuries after he fell down in an inebriated condition.

But his wife Shobha Choudhary was not ready to buy the jail officials’ theory. She moved Bihar State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) seeking relief. More than one year down the line, she has been finally delivered justice and awarded a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the custodial death of her husband.

The rights panel has ordered that the compensation amount be paid to Shobha within one-and-a-half month.