Manjula Shetye, 45, was serving the last few months of her sentence when on 23 June 2017 she was reportedly brutally and sexually assaulted to death by the prison staff at Mumbai’s Byculla Jail. She was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering her sister-in-law and was this close to winning back her freedom for her good behaviour.
A look at Shetye’s unpublicised life reveals a rotten contradiction: On one hand, the gory truth of custodial torture in Indian prisons becomes clearer; while on the other, a hopeful case study of positive reform in a murderer, brought about by the same criminal justice system.
She was a teacher before being jailed. Her behaviour in prison was good and hence she was shifted to Byculla. When she learnt that only 200 eggs (instead of 300) were being provided to prisoners, she was targeted and killed.Anand Shetye, Manjula Shetye’ brother, speaking to The New Indian Express
In Hot Blood
When Manjula was in her 20s, she used to live with her mother, Godavari, two brothers, and her sister-in-law, Vidya Shetye. Relations between Vidya and the family were strained and she had previously also lodged a complaint of harassment against her husband, Prakash, Godavari and Manjula Shetye. Due to this, Vidya and Prakash had stopped eating with the rest of the family.
On 4 January 1996, a 23-year-old Manjula Govind Shetye poured kerosene on her sister-in-law, Vidya Shetye after which her mother Godavari pushed her against a lit stove. Vidya sustained 100% burns, to which she succumbed four days later. The provocation? Vidya used their mixer grinder while cooking food to which Manjula and Godavari Shetye objected. As a retort, Vidya told them all the utensils were being paid for by her husband anyway and that was that.
While in the hospital, Vidya blamed Manjula and Godavari Shetye in her dying declaration on the basis of which an FIR was filed against them. They were tried in front of a Sessions Court and were finally jailed and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004. The accused filed an appeal in front of the Bombay High Court which also upheld the verdict in 2009, by which time Godavari Shetye had passed away.
Manjula Shetye: The Inmate
Since her conviction in 2004, Manjula was imprisoned in Yerwada Jail in Pune. Due to excellent behaviour, she had been promoted to the position of a warden and had requested for a transfer to Kalyan jail, as her brothers Anand and Sharad Shetye live nearby.
When the position of a warden opened up in Byculla Jail, her request was granted. However, reports suggest that Manjula was not happy with the transfer and had argued with jailer Manisha Pokharkar before. As a warden, she was made in charge of the pantry and developed close friendships with the inmates. Several have come forward to testify that Shetye was protective, helpful and often taught them knitting. With her sentence about to end in 8 months, Manjula had demonstrated her reformation, ready to be rehabilitated into society.
Some reports have gone as far as to suggest that it was her growing popularity with the inmates and her sour relationships with the authorities that led to her being murdered. At 9 am on 23 June, she was given food to distribute among her barracks. When she noticed that two eggs and five pieces of bread were missing, she went to Pokharkar’s office to inquire about it.
After that, inmates have reported hearing Shetye’s screams from inside the jailer’s room as she was being beaten up. She was dragged back to her cell with a scarf tied around her neck where jail constables continued to assault her with a blunt weapon. Eye-witnesses said that female constables held Shetye’s legs apart while the male ones inserted their lathis into her vagina. They left her bleeding in her cell and did not allow other inmates to go to her rescue. Around 7 pm in the evening, Manjula asked for help to be taken to the bathroom where she became unconscious. It was at this point that the authorities took her to J J Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.
In her post-mortem report it was found that she had “11-13 contusions on her body” with a blunt object and her lungs, head, and private parts were damaged. Speaking to Hindustan Times the day after the incident, Manjula’s elder brother Sharad said, "She was taken to the hospital on Friday around 7.30 pm and we were informed only at 7 am on Saturday when two constables from Manpada police station came to inform us. I want to know why it took them beyond one hour to inform me about my sister’s death."
It is lucky that this case saw the light of day from amongst the several other cases of custodial torture and death, often disguised as suicide or death by natural causes, courtesy Shetye’s high-profile fellow inmate, Indrani Mukerjea, who, along with 200 others, were booked for inciting a prison riot to protest Shetye’s murder.
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