Assam: Man lodged in detention centre dies, family claims he was mentally unstable

A 65-year-old man, who was lodged in a detention centre for illegal migrants in Assam, died at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital on Sunday,

The Indian Express reported. Family members of Dulal Paul claimed he was mentally unstable, and was admitted to the hospital on September 28 due to his “deteriorating health”.

“He was mentally unstable,” Sadhan Paul, a nephew of Dulal Paul, told the daily. “His siblings and their families are in the NRC [National Register of Citizens]. Our family has land documents dating back to the 1960s. A mentally-unstable person was put into detention.” The National Register of Citizens, an updated list of Indian citizens in Assam released on August 31, excluded 19 lakh people. For now, the authorities have said they will have to stand trial in Assam’s foreigners’ tribunals.

Paul, a resident of Alisinga village of Sonitpur district, had been in the detention centre in Tezpur since October 11, 2017, said an unidentified police officer. Assam has six detention centres and the seventh one is under construction in Goalpara. The detention centres are located in district jails and house around 1,000 people.

In July, responding to a question raised in the state Assembly, the Assam government for the first time released a list of people who...

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