A Tamil refugee in India has gone on hunger strike, calling on Indian authorities to release his wife from Mandapam Camp prison in Rameswaram.
The 34 year old B Suthakaran from Mullivakkal fled Sri Lanka with his family in May last year, after repeated harassment from Sri Lankan security forces. The intelligence wing of the Sri Lankan Navy arrested and detained him for almost 2 years in 2008, reported The New Indian Express.
However, once he arrived in India, despite claiming refugee status, he was imprisoned for a year in Puzhal Prison in Chennai.
"After I reached Dhanuskodi, I telephoned the Q branch police," said Mr Suthakaran. "I informed them that I am Sri Lankan and had come with my family thinking that they will register us as refugees and put us in the camps."
"But everything went awry as my wife and I were imprisoned and my children were separated from us," he said.
After their release Mr Suthakaran and his wife were detained by personnel from India's Q branch, he said. Whilst he was eventually released, his wife remains in Mandapam camp. "I approached revenue officials and Q branch police requesting for my wife's release," he said. "But the officials are not giving any clarification about her release."
Authorities from Q branch told the New Indian Express that Mr Suthakaran's wife would be released "within a day or two" of them receiving communication form the government to do so.
See more from The New Indian Express here.