Fauzia Hassan, the Maldivian national who was imprisoned in Kerala during the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) espionage case, hopes that the CBI would deliver her the much-delayed justice.
The ageing woman, who has moved the Supreme Court for compensation for her illegal arrest, detention and custodial torture, is waiting for the CBI officials to open her bag of woes.
“It was the CBI that saved me from the illegal detention in the ISRO case. I have full faith in the agency and will share with them all the information I have with me in the case,” Ms. Hassan told The Hindu from Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Ms. Hassan, who is in her 70s, is staying with her daughter in Sri Lanka.
“The CBI has registered a case against the police officers who had arrested and tortured me after the Supreme Court giving instructions to it. Now, I have every right to seek compensation. Hence, I have moved the Supreme Court. Now, I will speak only to the CBI to find out the truth,” she said.
Probe delayed
Ms. Hassan said the officials of the investigation agency were supposed to meet her in Sri Lanka to take her statement in the ISRO frame-up case.
The CBI officials could not reach Sri Lanka as the country went for a complete lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak and all the international flights were cancelled. The agency has not communicated about the new date on which they would come to Sri Lanka, she said.
Ms. Hassan said neither she nor her family members wanted to travel to India again for pursuing the case, though they did not fear of being arrested again on the foreign soil.
Ms. Hassan, who was arrested on November 13, 1994, was incarcerated for more than three years. She had complained to the Supreme Court that she was jailed for one year even without a trial as the police invoked the National Security Act against her. The Kerala Police had earlier accused her of over-staying in the country and engaging herself in espionage activities.
Mariam Rasheeda was not available for comments.
