22 days in jail
Chandra Lal Giri in Jana Aastha , 29 June
I am the chief correspondent of Shram Saptahik. Plainclothes security personnel arrested me on 31 December 2004 near the Samaya office while I was on my way to inform human rights activists and the media about the arrest of Sitaram Parajuli, our editor. They shoved me into a pickup, gagged me and made me lie on the floor while five or six people sat on my back. Every few minutes, they would feel my neck to check if I was still breathing. For half-an-hour, until we reached an army barrack, they verbally abused me. In the barrack, I was made to sit on a cold cement floor and frisked. All I had was a press pass from the Department of Information and a few documents related to human rights. They tied me up, joined electrical wires to my ears and started electrocuting me. An hour later, I was bleeding from my tongue and teeth because I was biting them too hard. The barrack must have been Chhauni because from time to time I heard helicopters landing. But since my head was covered with a sack I couldn't see anything. Then they took me to a toilet and pushed my head into a bucket of cold water. I couldn't breathe and thought I would drown.
For a week I was tortured. The minute I moved or stood up, I'd get punched and kicked. They would wake me up when I was asleep and start beating me. Some days, I was electrocuted twice?once in the morning and once in the evening. My ears are bleeding even now, my memory is growing weak and my teeth, which were ok before are all deformed. Whenever I had to go to the toilet I would get pushed against the wall, abused and beaten up again on my way back. Food was given once a day but it was with a watery soup that I could hardly eat. They neither let me bathe nor wash my face. I could hear screams from another room. One week later, Kulbindra Funyal from Dolakha, Anantaram Ghimire from Mahottari and I were transferred to Singha Darbar barrack at nine in the evening. Funyal and Ghimire had also been charged with contacting the Maoists. At round 10PM, a major shouted, ?Who is that journalist? Bring him here.?
I was made to jump and run for a while, then the torturing began again. They kicked and beat me with a rubber pipe until I fainted. I regained consciousness when they splashed water on me and found myself in a sewer. I was made to stand up and a gun was pointed to my head. ?What is your last wish?? they asked. ?To report,? answered I. I was kept this way in Singha Darbar barrack for another 14 days.
.png)
