07 July,2017 11:40 AM IST | Mumbai | Sailee Dhayalkar
A week after Indrani Mukerjea disclosed the inside story of the death of fellow Byculla women's prison inmate Manjula Shetye,another inmate took to the witness stand to give chilling details of what she witnessed
Manjula Shetye
A week after Indrani Mukerjea disclosed the inside story of the death of fellow Byculla women's prison inmate Manjula Shetye, another inmate on Thursday took to the witness stand to give chilling details of what she witnessed the day Manjula was allegedly killed.
Vaishali Mudale, who is an under trial in a corruption case told the court that on June 23, all the inmates were tasked with cleaning wheat. Manjula was part of Vaishali's team. While they were cleaning, an officer came to their barrack and asked Manjula to accompany her to the jail officer's cabin. Manjula was there between 10 am to 12 pm. At the time, six officers were with her.
'Save me'
Twenty minutes after Manjula was taken, Vaishali and others heard her screaming. Manjula was also heard saying, "Mala vachva, me marun jaien" (Save me [or] I will die). Vaishali said they also heard sounds of someone being beaten up with lathis.
Manjula was wearing a sari since she was a warden. But, half an hour after she was taken, Vaishali saw Manjula in a night gown, with the sari around her neck. The officers were pulling her through her hair and threw her in barrack no 5. All the prisoners started asking the officers as to what happened to Manjula, to which an officer said they should not ask questions, or they too will be punished.
Inmate informs of death
She further said that she tried to meet Manjula, but the officer didn't allow her. Two hours later, Vaishali and others learnt that Manjula was continuously vomiting and also passed her stool. She was then taken to JJ Hospital.
Post this, the inmates learnt of Manjula's death from another inmate who was being treated at JJ Hospital. She had seen Manjula there and learnt that she had died.
