A US citizen arrested in an alleged terror-conspiracy case has petitioned a court in Delhi, India, for permission to cook his own food inside Tihar Jail, saying he cannot stomach the prison’s heavily spiced, oily meals.
The American, named Matthew Vandyke, has been in judicial custody since April. He told the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court that, unable to adjust to the prison food and going without eating for long stretches, he had lost about 14 kilograms over the past three months.
In the petition filed at Patiala House Court, Vandyke sought permission for his family to supply cooking equipment inside the jail — including an induction cooker and a portable stove — along with food items such as olive oil and pasta, so that he could prepare his own meals.
Vandyke has been on a hunger strike since May 6. He says the prison’s routine diet is causing him severe discomfort and seriously harming his health, and that eating such Indian prison food regularly is both unfamiliar and physically impossible for him as an American.
Citing his physical weakness, Vandyke also said the risk of contracting mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria or dengue from jail mosquito bites was rising, and asked the court to direct the prison authorities to supply mosquito repellent and a net for his protection.
The NIA arrested the American along with six Ukrainian nationals in March this year. Investigators allege that the group entered the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram illegally and moved to the Myanmar border, where it is accused of training ethnic armed groups fighting Myanmar’s military government and aiding terrorist organisations active in India. Vandyke was first detained at Kolkata international airport and later transferred to Tihar Jail on April 6.
In response to the petition, the court has directed the Tihar Jail authorities to submit their response and has set July 21 as the date for the next hearing.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report