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Journalism of Courage
Taking note of the Sunday Express story on 15-year-old girls in Jharkhand’s POTA net, state police held a meeting two days to review their cases. In the case of at least one of them, Poonam Devi, whose plight was highlighted by this paper, the authorities have decided not to press the Act.
The meeting was convened by DGP R.R. Prasad.
Twenty-two-year-old Poonam Devi has been in jail since March 22 last year, without trial or bail. While the prosecution is yet to get sanction to begin her trial, there is no one to file bail on her behalf as her widowed mother is registered missing and her elder sister is ailing.
The other cases highlighted by Express were that of 14-year-old Mayanti Raj Kumari, whose family barely ekes a living out of its five acres of land, Sheela Devi (21), Urmila Kumari (18) and Savita Kumari (19). The last two are still in jail despite being granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court on May 7 since their parents are not able to furnish their bail bonds.
However, DGP Prasad denied that the cases were without any basis, saying that Mayanti’s name had cropped up in several extremism-related incidents. He added that her father had been persuaded to come to Ranchi to file a bail application.
