Minorities body showcases film on plight of seven prisoners

NEW DELHI: Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) on Thursday showcased a documentary at the Delhi Secretariat based on the plight of seven innocent prisoners languishing for last 10 years.

The Hindi version of documentary 'Innocent Imprisoned' was released by Delhi Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, at the event organised by DMC and attended by Delhi Minority Commissioner Dr Zafrul Islam Khan.

The documentary showed seven innocents in jail, four of whom are tribals and three Dalits. One of the prisoners is a mentally challenged person, sentenced to death for killing Swami Laxmanananda in Kandhamal, Odisha.

Gautam said that justice should be given to these innocent people, who have been jailed for the last ten years without any reason.

The campaign was started by journalist-author Anto Akkara, who wrote the book 'Who Killed Swami Laxmanananda?'. The murder was promptly touted as a 'Christian conspiracy' by right-wing organisations, calling for revenge on Christians and declaring that Christianity was banned in Kandhamal. Nearly 100 Christians were killed while 300 churches were damaged in the resultant riots.