Jharkhand High Court questions legal basis for woman's ongoing detention

A 30-year-old woman from Jamtara remains held at a detention centre despite completing her prison sentence years ago and being acquitted of foreign national charges. Arrested in February 2018 in a child kidnapping case, she was sentenced to two years in prison under Section 363 of the IPC. She finished serving that sentence on February 4, 2020.

Detention and Escape

Instead of being released, authorities shifted her to the Foreigners' Holding Centre at Hazaribag's JP Central Jail, labeling her a Bangladeshi national. She spent years there as the sole detainee before another woman joined in November 2024. In June 2025, she escaped from the centre with two other detainees after alleging multiple sexual assaults by a police constable. Police caught them the next day at Dhanbad railway station.

Court Rulings

On July 20, a trial court convicted her of escaping custody under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita but acquitted her of violating the Foreigners Act. The court noted a lack of authenticated travel documents or cross-border records proving her foreign status. On October 1, a Jharkhand High Court division bench of Justices Sujit Narayan Prasad and Akhil Kumar asked under what legal authority she was still kept in detention after completing her original sentence.

Context

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution protects personal liberty and states that no person can be deprived of their freedom without proper legal authority. Habeas corpus petitions are legal remedies used in courts to challenge unlawful detentions and secure the release of individuals held without due process.