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Japanese student jailed 19 days gets Rs 75,000 compensation
Japanese student Hirotoshi Tanaka has received Rs 75,000 from the Karnataka government after the state human rights commission ruled he was unnecessarily kept in judicial custody for 19 days in 2019. Tanaka,…
The Story in Brief
Japanese student Hirotoshi Tanaka has received Rs 75,000 from the Karnataka government after the state human rights commission ruled he was unnecessarily kept in judicial custody for 19 days in 2019. Tanaka, who came to Bengaluru to learn English, was arrested after a physical altercation with his academy head. He later stole a police chair in 2021 to force his own arrest, hoping to stay in India while pursuing a human rights complaint.
Tanaka spent 19 days in Bengaluru Central Prison without understanding the legal system, unable to get his ADHD medication. He was released on bail with help from a fellow inmate convicted of murder. After months of legal battles, he was deported to Japan in April 2021. The human rights commission held that his prolonged custody was unnecessary, leading to the compensation.
The Indian Opinion
Readers might latch onto the 'stolen chair' as a farce, but the real story is how a foreigner with no legal knowledge spent 19 days in Bengaluru Central Prison without understanding his own case. The narrative that India's system is uniquely chaotic ignores that Tanaka also found support from inmates and jailers. The compensation is welcome, but the question remains: will the Karnataka government audit how magistrates and police handle foreign nationals, or will this remain a one-off payout?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
