Irom Sharmila sent to custody after rejecting personal recognisance bond

Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on a fast unto death since November 4, 2000, demanding repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, on Tuesday rejected an offer for a personal recognisance bond for getting bail. After her refusal, she was sent to judicial custody.

The law, under which she is detained, envisages keeping her for a year at one go and she is released at the end of each year.

Sharmila is being held on charges of trying to commit suicide, which she has been vehemently denying.

On Tuesday, when the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Imphal West, offered her the bail, she rejected it, saying that she did not agree with the charge levelled against her. Last year, the district and sessions court in Imphal West had ruled that she was not guilty of attempting to commit suicide and ordered her release. However, within two days, she was rearrested.