After being acquitted by the High Court in the Ayesha Meera murder case, 30-year-old Pidatala Satyam Babu was forced to spend one more day at the Central Prison here, as the order copies, which were mandatory for his release, did not reach the prison by Saturday evening.
He, however, will be freed on Sunday morning.
The High Court pronounced its judgment on Friday that Mr. Babu was in no way connected to the rape and murder that took place in a private hostel at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada on December 27, 2007.
His family members, advocates and activists of the Human Rights Forum, who fought relentlessly for him, waited anxiously outside the prison.
Meets mother
The jail authorities allowed Mariyamma, Mr. Babu’s mother, to meet him in the visitors’ room.
The officials, however, did not allow the media to take pictures of the meeting with the man who spent eight years of his life in jail. “He is very happy,” said Ms. Mariyamma, who added that she was certain her son was innocent from day one.
“But no one listened to me. He was subjected to harassment and humiliation by the police and society. Can the government return the years he spent in jail,” she asked.
