In October 2022, we published a story on the inhuman treatment of Rohingya Muslim refugees at a detention centre in Delhi. That story was written by a lawyer who then launched a legal battle to ensure the health and freedom of a Rohingya woman held illegally for nearly three years. She explains how she argued the habeas corpus petition and what it has achieved so far.
Delhi: On 12 October 2022, Article 14 published my report on the inhuman and degrading conditions faced by the Rohingya refugees detained at the Shahzada Bagh detention centre in northwest Delhi.
When I visited the detention centre with a three-year-old child and his aunt—Sabera Khatoon, whose sister, Shadiya Akhtar, was detained for nearly three years, we were not allowed to meet her because I, a lawyer, accompanied them. The child and his aunt left the detention centre in tears.
Khatoon became the Petitioner in the case I filed before the Delhi High Court.
Everything about the detention centre not only deserved media attention, but I felt it was necessary to initiate strategic legal interventions against such abuse of human rights.
In February 2023, my colleague T. Mayura Priyan and I filed the writ petition Sabera Khatoon v FRRO and Ors before the Delhi High Court. Our main prayer was for the release of Akhtar.
As an interim relief, we prayed for adequate winter essentials, including clothing, bed, mattress, blanket, pillows and warm water in the detention centre as per the Model Detention Centre Manual, 2019.
We also prayed for the medical records of Shadiya and her immediate hospitalisation for a complete health checkup and dietary assessment.
In the first hearing, a single Bench of the Delhi High Court ordered a joint inspection of the Shahzada Bagh detention centre the very next day by the respondents—Union of India through the ministry of home affairs, the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and the Delhi urban shelter improvement board (DUSIB).
This story was originally published in article-14.com. Read the full story here .