IP1 lived in a village of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. He is one among nine siblings – seven brothers and one sister. He was charged under IPC 302 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He completed his first 14 years in Dist. Prison Muzaffarnagar and then was transferred to dist. Gautam Buddha Nagar prison in 2018 where he is currently on his 3rd year. When he came to prison, he was educated only till class 8. He completed his 10th and 12th from The National Institute of Open Schooling inside the prison in Muzaffarnagar. He then went on to complete his Bachelor’s in Commerce from dist. Prison Gautam Buddha Nagar.
IP1’s journey with India Vision Foundation began when he was transferred. He availed the one-on-one counseling sessions provided by the organization and started sharing his feelings. He expressed how surprised he was when he saw the many activities conducted within the prison for the betterment of the inmates. He even expressed how depressed he was due to the transfer as he had already spent 12 years in the dist. Prison in Muzaffarnagar. But when he saw the activities conducted in Gautam Buddha Nagar Prison, he was extremely happy and requested to join the music classes, which soon became a good way to release his stress.
The counselling sessions were a constant source of motivation for him to improve his skills and pushed him to join other activities. He soon enrolled himself in the three months’ basic computer training course and completed it with an A grade. He is currently enrolled in the basic stitching course. He is an active participant in all the workshops and awareness sessions conducted by India Vision Foundation and tries to pick up new skills. He also motivates new inmates to join the activities conducted by the Foundation. He feels extremely grateful for India Vision Foundation and says that this is the only NGO which really thinks and works for inmates.
When IP1 came to prison, he was violent and aggressive because he was constantly unnerved about the details of his case. There is substantial change in him now. He works for and helps the prison administration on minimum wages. He’s extremely grounded and humble now, motivates others, gets along with everyone be it fellow inmates or even the prison administration. He is an influential orator and can easily encourage those around him. He wishes to have a small family someday and says he wants to live a peaceful life. He wants to be able to get a job and sustain his family and take care of them. His biggest learning, he says, is to keep a check on his anger because that is what got him to prison.
