Indian police rearrest hunger striker

Indian police re-arrested Friday a woman who has been on hunger strike for 14 years to protest against human rights abuses, just two days after she was freed on court orders. ‘She was arrested for attempted suicide,’ lawyer Khaidem Mani, said of Sharmila, who will appear in court on Saturday in Manipur state's capital, Imphal. Attempting suicide is a crime in India and can be punishable by prison. Amid screams from the 42-year-old human rights activist, a team of policewomen dragged her from a makeshift venue where she had been staging a hunger strike since her release on Wednesday. Police said she would be taken to the same hospital, where she had been detained for years, and force fed via nasal drip. A portion of the hospital where she was receiving treatment had been declared a jail by authorities earlier. ‘We cannot let her die,’ a senior police official said on condition of anonymity. Sharmila began her hunger strike in November 2000 after witnessing the army kills 10 people at a bus stop near her home in Manipur, which is subject to the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), according to AFP.