'My daughter has been running all her life. I don't know why the court wants to imprison her again'

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in New Delhi

Enter the Chittranjan Park area in south Delhi and ask passersby where P-112 is, and you are greeted by blank stares and shrugs. But mention the magic words Phoolan Devi and even children will lead you to where the former bandit stays.

Phoolan Palace -- for that is how P-112 is christened -- is a white, three storeyed building. An Alsatian barks as soon as I knock on the gate. An old man appears. I have come to see Khazan Singh, Phoolan Devi's uncle, I tell him. The man says he is Khazan Singh and asks me how he can help. His tone is pleasant, polite.

I flash my visiting card and remind him of my appointment with Phoolan Devi's mother Mulla Devi. "Could you wait for a few minutes?" he asks, and shuffles inside the house. Near the gate is a board, Milne ka samaye savere 9 se 10 aur shaam 4 se 5 baje tak. (Meeting hours: between 9 to 10 am and 4 to 5 pm). It is a concession to Phoolan's status as Representative of the People. The lady, after all, represents Mirzapur, India's second largest parliamentary constituency, in the Lower House of the People.

Khazan Singh returns ten minutes later and tells me that Phoolan Devi's mother is in no position to speak. He asks me to leave. I remind him that I have an appointment and all need is a few minutes with Mulla Devi. Singh tells me she has been in a state of shock after hearing the news of the Supreme Court's rejection of Phoolan Devi's petition on Friday.

On my insistence, he relents and takes me inside the house to meet Mulla Devi. He warns me not to take more than five minutes. The room is well furnished, marble tiles, colour television and all. Mulla Devi is sitting on a sofa.

I ask her how her health is. She replies, "Arre Beta tabiyyat ke barare mein kya? yeh uppri jaat walon ne hamara jeena haram kar diya hai (Son, forget my health. These upper castes have made our lives a nightmare). "

"My daughter has been running all her life. She has already served her imprisonment. I don't know why the court wants to imprison her again. We backwards are born to suffer in this country," she says and burst into tears.

"I told you she is not in a position to speak," says Khazan Singh, and asks me to leave. One of Phoolan Devi's relatives arrives and repeats the request. "Sir, she is in a state of shock. Please don't ask her any questions. Whatever you want, ask Phoolan's secretary F M Das."

Das, who hails from Kerala, is an executive member of the Eklavya Sena, an organisation established to look after the interest of the backward castes. "Amma (Phoolan's mother) is not meeting any journalists," he says. "She is in a state of shock. I am sorry you had to return without talking much to her."

Phoolan Devi's lawyer in Kanpur told Star News on Sunday night that she would not appear in court on Tuesday, unless her petition against the non-bailable warrant issued by the court was heard. Why, I ask Das, was Phoolan not willing to appear in court.

"As per the surrender agreement with the Madhya Pradesh government in 1983," he says, "all the charges were to be heard in Madhya Pradesh. Also, that she would not be kept in jail for more than eight years. This was decided by the Madhya Pradesh government and the Government of India. So, there is no way that a non-bailable warrant can be issued against her by the Kanpur court in Uttar Pradesh."

Phoolan Devi, who was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi last month, vanished from the hospital three days after the Kanpur court issued its warrant against her in the Behmai case where she and members of her gang are alleged to have killed 24 thakurs in February 1981. She has been on the run since, and her lawyer told Star News on Sunday night that she was somewhere in her constituency.

Says one of her cousins, "I last saw her on January 24. After that there has been no trace of her. It is good she is not here. If she goes to Kanpur the thakurs will kill her."

"The thakurs have not forgotten Behmai. They will take revenge," adds Das with foreboding.

So will Phoolan Devi surrender for the second time in her all too eventful life?

Das claims he last spoke to her on Friday evening when she called him at his hotel to find out what the Supreme Court had ruled on her petition. "In case she has to surrender," says her secretary, "she will do that in her constituency, Mirzapur. This will add to her popularity."