Faceless and Forgotten

Nearly 2.5 lakh people locked in Indian prisons

are not yet proven guilty.
They are undertrials who have not been
convicted by the courts and are awaiting justice.
This is the photo narrative of one forgotten,
faceless undertrial and his journey to freedom.
Prajwal
Age 2! years
"ducation #raduate
$esiding in a small village
near %ysore
Prajwal loved his mother
dearly. In a family with 2
brothers and a sister, he
was the youngest and most
pampered.
One fateful night in 2&&', his life changed. (e was
sitting in a bar with his friends in %ysore. The
police came, arrested him and threw him into jail.
Prajwal was
subse)uently charged
by the police in *!
cases of theft.
(e was tortured in police custody and was forced
to not reveal the truth to the judge.
Prajwal was locked away and became one of the
many thousands of undertrials in India awaiting
justice.
The wait took away 5 years of his life.
While Prajwal languished in jail, his family had no
access to him. The system had made him invisible.
It was a long wait until justice was delivered.
Prajwal was finally ac)uitted in all *! cases in
2&*!, after 5 years of detention.
(e was proven innocent, yet was kept behind bars
for *' days after the final ac)uittal.
It was another tragedy of miscommunication in the
system.
The jail authorities thought he still had + cases
against him and did not release him.
Amnesty International
India identified
Prajwal,s case early
this year.
On 2+
rd
-ebruary
2&*!, researchers
collected his ac)uittal
orders from the courts,
delivered them to jail
authorities and
secured his freedom.
The entire process
took only !5 minutes.
We can.t do much...so I thought if he is
dead, he is dead. We will then live believing
that we have only one son.../ Prajwal,s
mother
Despite being innocent, Prajwal spent over 5 years
locked away. (e is now trying to make up for lost
time with friends and family.
Prajwal met his niece for
the first time. 0he was
born while he was in
prison.
Putting his past behind him, Prajwal has now moved
on. (e is 21 years old, has a government job, wishes
to find love and get married.
A team of researchers and campaigners from Amnesty
International India and a photographer visited Prajwal,s
2name changed3 village after he was released.
(is identity has been concealed in these photos to protect
his privacy.
Photo 4ourtesy 5 Amnesty International
Photographers (ari Adivarekar, Diya Deb