P P James is making up for a lot of lost time. Fifty years ago he was arrested for a crime he did not commit, put in a Sri Lankan asylum and forgotten about.
But for an illness that needed medical treatment, James would not have now been
freed at the age of 84 - let go with just £2500 in compensation and released into a world he no longer recognises.
James, born in a village 80km from Colombo, suffered an accident as a young man that left him prone to fall into "trances". His family dismissed him as a "madman" and, after he pulled out of a marriage with a local woman, largely disowned him.
Then one night in 1958, James was walking past his father's house and thought he saw blood on the grass. Believing his father had been attacked, he ran to the nearest house, which happened to be where the woman he had spurned lived. Her father called the police, and told them that James was mad. They seized him on suspicion of having attacked his father and placed him before a judge who - without so much as a bail hearing - had him placed in an asylum.
James was treated until the doctors said he was cured but not released. The hospital authorities said they needed permission from the prison officials who said they needed a ruling from the court, which had lost his file.
Late last year, James required treatment for his eye. Forced to transfer him to another hospital for treatment, officials questioned why he was being held. He was released on bail this year, and his case has been dismissed.
James now works in the paddy fields. When younger workers stop to rest, he tells them he has been resting for long enough. He does not blame the judicial system. "I should have fought harder to get myself out."
- INDEPENDENT
