The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: Four men – who were granted bail in last year’s Kanpur violence case – continue to languish in jail because they couldn’t afford to pay the surety amount.
According to the Indian Express, Naseem Ahmad, Mehtab, Imran and Arshad were granted bail by the Allahabad court, but their families could not pay the sureties in the district court to secure their release.
Surety is a bail bond. When an accused person is released from jail on bail, the surety has to take responsibility for his acts. It is a guarantee to the court that the accused will appear in the court and then only he or she will be released from jail.
The four men – sole breadwinners of the family – worked as a painter, a meat scrap seller, a tailor and a garment shop worker, respectively.
Their families told the daily that legal fees took away all their financial resources, and therefore, they have run out of money to pay for sureties.
They were booked in three cases, and the Kanpur district court had set two sureties worth Rs 1 lakh in each of the three cases. Therefore, each family is supposed to pay Rs 6 lakh to secure the men’s release from jail.
What were the three complaints?
The Wire had reported on June 4, 2022, that three first information reports were registered against more than 1,000 unknown persons, out of which 55 people were named as accused, and all of whom were Muslims.
Clashes broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur on June 3 during a protest against Bharatiya Janta Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her allegedly offensive statements against Prophet Muhammad during a debate show on Times Now. The discussion was on the Gyanvapi mosque row.
During the clashes, mobs hurled bombs and pelted stones at each other.
The violence erupted at Kanpur’s Nai Sadak, Yateemkana and Parade after Friday prayers.
A senior police officer told the Indian Express that 61 people were arrested in the three cases. Of the 61 accused, many walked out of jail, leaving at least four people, mentioned above, languishing in jail.
“Five people accused in the cases are absconding, and we are taking action against them as per law,” the officer told the daily.
In one of the complaints, sub-inspector Arif Raza alleged that a crowd of 350 people indulged in rioting and arson, causing injuries to people passing through the area after Friday prayers on June 3, 2022.
In another complaint, police inspector Nawab Ahmad alleged that a crowd of 500 people gathered at Kanpur’s Nai Sadak area on June 3 and “indulged in rioting, arson and fired with illegal arms with an intention to kill”. The complaint named 36 people as accused.
In the third case, a complaint was lodged by Mukesh, a local resident, who alleged that thousands of people attacked a neighbourhood with stones, iron rods and bombs while chanting slogans of “Allahu Akbar”. The case mentioned “thousands of unidentified people” as accused.
Also read: Kanpur Violence: ‘Muslims Being Picked Up Indiscriminately,’ Say Families of Those Arrested
‘How can we arrange bonds worth Rs 6 lakh?’ asks Naseem’s family
Naseem was granted bail on November 2, 2022, but is still in jail.
He earned Rs 200-300 daily, painting houses. He has four children.
His wife, Yasmin Ahmad, 35, now works as a domestic help at six houses. She leaves her children with their grandmother, Zaigun Nisha.
The family has already spent Rs 1.5 lakh applying for bail in the Allahabad high court.
With mounting expenses on legal fees, the family is neck-deep in debt.
“You can see how we live. How can we arrange bonds worth Rs 6 lakh? We don’t have anything at all. None of our relatives or the people we know are rich enough to have such kind of money,” Yasmin told the Indian Express’s Asad Rehman.
Naseem’s mother has given hope for his release.
“We don’t think he will get released. Every time, we see him in court during the hearings, he says ‘Ammi, kuch kariye’ (Mother, please do something). I feel helpless, and I cry every time,” Zaigun Nisha told IE.
Naseem’s family says he was falsely implicated in the case.
‘We have nothing to survive now,’ says Mehtab’s wife
Mehtab’s wife, Farida, 37, had sold their two-room pucca house in the slum for Rs 4 lakh to pay the legal fees required for his bail, the newspaper reported.
“I work at people’s houses to sustain the family. What other work can an illiterate woman like me do? We have spent more than Rs 3 lakh on legal fees since he went to jail,” she told the daily.
Farida, with her two children, aged eight and five, live on rent for Rs 2,500 per month. But now they plan to move to a cheaper locality because the landlord is planning to increase the rent.
Before his arrest, Mehtab sold meat scraps that he bought from a butcher. He earned approximately Rs 300 a day.
“We just had enough to survive; now, we have nothing,” Farida told IE.
Mehtab’s lawyer, who didn’t want to be named, told the newspaper that the high court granted bail to his client in October last year, in all three cases. However, his family has not been able to pay the surety to secure his release.
Also read: UP: Properties Linked to Accused Who Took Part in Protests Over Anti-Islam Remarks Demolished
‘Have spent Rs 40,000 on legal fees,’ says Imran’s mother
Imran’s family has also failed to arrange for sureties in the three cases he has been booked in.
“I have spent Rs 40,000 so far on legal fees. Some neighbours and affluent people we know helped us with the legal fees. We are now drowning in debt. Where will I find people who can give sureties to the court?” Imran’s mother, Munnawar Jahaan, aged 72, told IE.
‘Can’t find people who can give sureties worth Rs 6 lakh’, says Arshad’s family
The high court granted him bail in February 2023 in the three cases he was booked in.
Arshad’s mother, Ashiya, aged 58, told IE that the family cannot find people who can give sureties worth Rs 6 lakh.
“We asked around. We asked many people, but now, it seems futile. No one has cars or properties. Everyone we know is barely surviving.”
Ashiya says her husband Shameem, 64, has a lung infection and an ailment in one of his legs. But he had to take up a job as a guard which pays him Rs 200 per day.
“He can barely walk. But what option do we have?” Ashiya told the daily over the phone.