Indian man born in jail bails out mom 19 years later

When Vijai Kumari was convicted of murder — wrongfully, she insists — she was pregnant.

Four months into her life sentence at Lucknow's women's prison in India, she gave birth to her son, Kanhaiya. Instead of raising him in prison, Kumari sent him to live in a series of juvenile homes.

"I sent him away when he got a bit older. It was hard but I was determined. Prison is no place for a young child," she told BBC News.

Every three months, Kanhaiya visited his mother. When he turned 18, he grew determined to see her freed.

BBC News reported that while Kumari had been granted bail on appeal in 1994, her lack of funds — she needed $180 to post bail — left her lost in the system. Her husband had long since abandoned her.

"I thought I'd die in prison," she said of her two decades behind bars. "They told me in there that no-one ever gets out."

"The years passed without anyone coming to help me. But I had faith that my Kanhaiya will get me released just as Lord Krishna got his jailed parents freed," the now 50-year-old woman told the Indian Express.

So Kanhaiya got a job in a garment factor and saved up for a lawyer.

On May 4th, Kanhaiya and his lawyer freed Kumari. In doing so, they likely helped others like Kumari, forgotten by the system.

"Judges expressed their shock at her situation and the 'callous and careless' behaviour of the authorities," wrote Sanjoy Majumder for BBC News. "They have now ordered a sweep of all the prisons in Uttar Pradesh state to see if there are others like Vijai Kumari."

"The court also said that Kumari be compensated adequately," reported the Indian Express.

"Everyone should have a son like mine," Kumari said. "He saved money from what he earned and paid the lawyer so that I could get released."

Now mother and son, who are living together in a temporary accommodation at a rehabilitation centre in Kanpur, plan to approach Kumari's estranged husband and fight for a share of the family property.