After 16 years, Irom Sharmila to end fast today

After being on fast for the last 16 years demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, Manipur's ‘Iron Lady’ Irom Chanu Sharmila is all set to end her fast on Tuesday morning.

According to her brother Irom Singhajit, the 44-year-old iconic rights activist, who was forcibly fed through a nasal tube since 2000 to keep her alive at a prison-turned-hospital, will break her fast at a local court here. "She will be produced before a judicial magistrate tomorrow and the court will release her from judicial custody after she breaks her fast as she had announced a fortnight ago," he said.

Though a large number of her supporters and women activists under the forum of Sharmila Kunba Lup will be meeting her as she starts her new journey, Sharmila's 84-year-old mother Shakhi Devi will be conspicuous by her absence.