An Imprisoned Mind

In Indian prisons, where the incarcerated are robbed of basic human dignity, conversations about mental health are a formidable challenge

- Apeksha Priyadarshini IS SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR, OUTLOOK. SHE WRITES ON CINEMA, ART, POLITICS, GENDER & SOCIAL JUSTICE

BOOKS line the walls of the serene room up to its ceiling. At the top of the shelves, a couple of hand-drawn sketches rest. With a small but resolute smile, the professor looks down at us from the frames. The artist has done a remarkable job of capturing the kindness in his eyes. It is impossible to imagine what those eyes saw in the lifeless, egg-shaped cell in Nagpur Central Jail for nearly a decade.

“Sitting in a broken wheelchair, unable to move even to drink a glass of water, he would listen to the Adivasi prisoners scream for hours, while they were mercilessly beaten in the cells beside his,” says AS Vasantha Kumari, GN Saibaba’s partner.

Tears roll down her face while recounting the last few months she spent with him. “There was hardly any time that we got to spend as a family,” she says. Saibaba—an assistant professor of English at Ram Lal Anand College, Delhi University, who was arrested near his home in Delhi on May 14, 2014 on charges of alleged Maoist links—had been released after more than eight and a half years in prison with 19 new ailments. His death on October 12, 2024, has been attributed to the severe medical negligence that he faced during his prolonged incarceration.

The blatant disregard for his condition began right from the day of his arrest. “He was abducted by the Maharashtra police and dragged away in his car. In the process, his wheelchair was damaged and left arm was injured,” Vasantha says. “For his production at the Gadchiroli trial court, they engaged an entire convoy of vehicles, complete with anti-mine equipment! Greyhound teams accompanied him as escort. The media was already given a picture that a dreaded criminal was being produced in court. Doesn’t this count as mental harassment?”