Machal with one of his nieces. Picture by S.H. Patgiri

Silchang (Nellie), July 24: Freedom after more than five decades in the confines of a mental asylum does not seem to have made Machal Lalung’s life much better.

Machal, who remained in judicial custody for 54 years without ever facing trial for a crime he committed in 1951, was freed on July 1. But he is still not at home among his own. In fact, at times, he even misses the environment where he spent the major part of his life.

“It feels good. The food is good at home, but I don’t like the kutcha toilet or people having to draw water from wells. I am trying to adjust,” he told The Telegraph.

Now 77, Machal was freed by Kamrup chief judicial magistrate H.K. Sarma on a token personal release bond of Rs 1 after it came to light that he had been languishing at Tezpur Mental Hospital. He had been shifted there from Guwahati Central Jail in 1951.

Machal, however, doesn’t remember what his crime was. “They say I hit someone,” he said, slowly tilling a plot of land at his native village, Silchang, under Nellie police station of Morigaon district.

Since returning to the village, he has been staying at his late elder sister’s house with his nephew Badan Pator and and the latter’s son, Sambor.

Tilling is something he started doing during his stay in the hospital, where he was being treated for schizophrenia.

“We tried to stop him from doing so, but gave up on seeing his enthusiasm. He is very fit for someone of his age. He was a bit lost for a week and sad when we informed him that his elder sister had passed away. He has recovered since and is trying to adjust to his new surroundings. He is a very quiet person and loves to take a swig or two of the local brew, apung, and also jokes when in the mood,” Sambor said.

Machal’s new home is a tin-roof kutcha house. The tribal household, like most of the 500 families in the village, subsists on the income generated from the 15-bigha plot and Sambor’s earning as an employee in the neighbourhood medicine shop. The close-knit family is trying its best to make him feel at home. To ensure that he is not inconvenienced, the family has been trying to follow the same daily routine he was used to in Tezpur.

Some of the elderly neighbours have only faint memories about Machal who “went missing” more than 50 years ago.

Machal ? the court papers wrongly mention the name as “Machang” ? has been booked under Section 326 of the IPC. The section pertains to “voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means”, which is a non-bailable offence and carries a maximum penalty of only 10 years in prison.

He would have remained there had the National Human Rights Commission not compiled a report on the case, based on accounts from various sources.