In 2002, Adambhai Suleiman Ajmeri plied an auto-rickshaw in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, His meager income sustained his family: five children and a wife pregnant with their sixth child. He earned enough to keep his children in school and buy presents for Eid.
That was before the police picked him up in August 2003 and beat him unconscious and bleeding for days on end. Then, they randomly booked him in the Akshardham terror case--one of several high-profile cases they were under pressure to solve. Tossed around prisons, he spent eight years on death row.
In May 2014, the Supreme Court acquitted Adambhai as innocent. The judges "expressed anguish for the incompetence and perversity with which the investigating authorities had imposed grievous charges on an innocent man."
Watch the video for Adambhai's true story on what life is like after death row.
Adambhai received no compensation for the years he lost as the victim of a terrible injustice. For 11 years, his family has lived in poverty. His children had to drop out of school, eat leftovers, and work as domestic labor. His oldest son earns Rs. 5000 working as a tailor to feed the family. Adambhai has returned to a world he doesn't recognize--one with cellphones in it! He is "unemployable".
But there may still be hope for him. Where the law failed him time and again, the Death Penalty Research Project at the National Law University (NLU), Delhi is working to make reparations and help him piece his life back together. He has a simple plan now: to start a small dairy and sustain his family by selling milk. With a little timely help, his dream of a new life may, perhaps, come true.
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That was before the police picked him up in August 2003 and beat him unconscious and bleeding for days on end. Then, they randomly booked him in the Akshardham terror case--one of several high-profile cases they were under pressure to solve. Tossed around prisons, he spent eight years on death row.
In May 2014, the Supreme Court acquitted Adambhai as innocent. The judges "expressed anguish for the incompetence and perversity with which the investigating authorities had imposed grievous charges on an innocent man."
Watch the video for Adambhai's true story on what life is like after death row.
Adambhai received no compensation for the years he lost as the victim of a terrible injustice. For 11 years, his family has lived in poverty. His children had to drop out of school, eat leftovers, and work as domestic labor. His oldest son earns Rs. 5000 working as a tailor to feed the family. Adambhai has returned to a world he doesn't recognize--one with cellphones in it! He is "unemployable".
But there may still be hope for him. Where the law failed him time and again, the Death Penalty Research Project at the National Law University (NLU), Delhi is working to make reparations and help him piece his life back together. He has a simple plan now: to start a small dairy and sustain his family by selling milk. With a little timely help, his dream of a new life may, perhaps, come true.
Like Us On Facebook | Follow Us On Twitter | Contact HuffPost India
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