New Delhi: A Tihar Jail`s woman prisoner, facing trial in cases of cheating and forgery, has accused the jail warden of torturing her with the help of HIV positive women inmates in a bid to extort money from her.
In a plea to a Delhi court, Honey Sharma, lodged in Jail 6 of Tihar Jail, has also apprehended that she might contract AIDS.
Lodged in jail for over three months now and facing trial in 11 cases, Sharma, in her plea to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav, alleged that she is being tortured by the head warden and warden for money.
Sharma`s two-year-old daughter also lives with her in the jail.
She told the court that the wardens "beat her up badly and got the AIDS patient to scratch her with their nails." She alleged that the she was beaten up for an hour before the deputy superintendent and the jail staff who remained mute spectators. She also alleged that her daughter was also manhandled by the warden and her pleas for being taken to the hospital were dismissed.
Sharma, along with her husband Vipin Sharma and five other persons -- Sachin Sharma, Harshad Alam, Bhupender, Aman Alam -- are accused of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code and also under the Passport Act for running a racket of providing fake passports and visas in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab.
Barring Honey Sharma, all were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police after a First Iformation Report (FIR) was lodged in 2009. Honey Sharma was declared a proclaimed offender and could be arrested only in January 2012.
They are involved in over 30 such cases and were also slapped with charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for running an organised crime syndicate. However, they were discharged from MCOCA by a sessions court.
She pleaded to the court that she should not be sent back to jail as she fears being tortured and should instead be allowed to visit a doctor at her own expense for she fears contracting AIDS.
The court has called for comments from the jail authorities in this respect.
PTI
