Ranchi, Oct 5 The Jharkhand High Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre on why a Bangladeshi woman has not been deported and has remained at the Foreigners Holding Centre in Hazaribagh since 2020.
A division bench headed by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad was hearing a petition filed by social worker Apurva Vivek, who has taken up the issue of the woman’s release.
Vivek has also alleged that the woman was subjected to sexual assault while in the centre.
The foreign national was arrested in 2018 in connection with a child kidnapping case in Jamtara.
She was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment by a Jamtara magistrate’s court and was released in 2020.
However, after her release, she was identified as a Bangladeshi national without valid documents and was subsequently moved to the Foreigners Holding Centre in Hazaribagh.
Vivek alleged that the woman was sexually assaulted and raped several times by police constables posted to provide security at the centre.
She fled from the centre in June 2025 but was arrested by police again within a few hours.
During Monday’s hearing, the High Court questioned the state government on why the woman had not been deported.
The court observed that she ought to have been deported after serving her sentence.
Advocate General Rohitashya Roy informed the court that several communications had been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs, but no action had been taken so far.
The High Court directed the Union government to file a detailed response in the matter and posted it for further hearing on October 15.
Meanwhile, the Hazaribagh District Legal Services Authority submitted a sealed report to the bench and informed it that the allegation of sexual assault against the woman had been confirmed.
