Arrested and kept under detention for four days in a case of mistaken identity, Sarah Thomas, a 39-year old NRI, finds it hard to move on. Four days later, Thomas is still shocked over the casual handling of her arrest by the immigration officials in Chennai and the Kerala police. On October 29, Thomas, was arrested at the Chennai airport after her flight landed from Dubai. She had come to meet her son. The immigration officials interrogated her for an hour to establish that she was Sarah Williams who is accused of cheating a London-based insurance firm. Williams, who absconded 13 years ago, was from Punalur in Kollam district. Thomas pleaded with officials that her son was waiting outside and requested them to make calls to her family, but to no avail. At 9 pm, she was handed over to the police and a case was registered. Next day, her son moved a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court. By then, she was produced before the Alanthur magistrate court and was remanded to Puzhal Central Prison. “She managed to send a message to her son, which was the only communication she had with him,” said Lalu John, advocate for Thomas. The Chennai police, meanwhile, informed their counterparts in Kerala and a team rushed to Chennai to secure the custody of Thomas who they thought was the absconding Sarah Williams. In a hurry to alert higher officials and media about what they thought was a big catch, they forgot to verify the basics. “Both Thomas and Williams were born in 1975. However, they ignored the dates and failed to verify the birth places,” a senior official at the Chennai airport said. On Saturday, Thomas was taken to Kerala. It was only after the Kerala police was served the notice by the Madras Hight Court, that they admitted to having overlooked the mismatch in photographs. It took the police another 24 hours to complete the release procedure. Thomas’s family has now decided to approach the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Union Home ministry for justice. “She can’t even talk. The officials at the emigration were not ready to hear what she said. Their approach shattered her psyche. Sarah, who used to travels in many countries and stay in high-end hotels, was virtually thrown into totally strange world. After being arrested, she was put in a jail among criminals. The toilet in the prison did not have proper door. A person of her stature was not used to such a situation,’’ Thomas’s sister Merlin said.
