JAIPUR: Finally, the 15-year-old agonising wait of Ugandan student Mujungu Mark ended, as he boarded plane for his home country with the money collected by some good samaritans on Wednesday.
Mujungu Mark had come to Jaipur 15 years back to do his graduation. But he could neither complete his study nor return to his home as the Anti Corruption Bureau booked him in a case of attempt to influence the valuator for revaluation of his answersheet.
However, the bureau failed to file any chargesheet against him in the court, leaving him stranded in the country for a long fifteen years.
His wait for justice came to an end when he filed a mercy petition in a local court here requesting that either he be put in a jail or allow him to go back to his home country as he was not in a position to get a roof over his head and earn one square meals a day. He struggled to find a living by selling watches on the footpath.
Mark said he was stranded in India as the Anti Corruption Bureau refused to give him a no-objection certificate (NOC) even though they did not file any chargesheet against him.
Incidentally, three years ago, the Rajasthan University had also closed his case and a local court even allowed him to return to his country.
After his mercy petition was heard by court on December 13, the court allowed him to go to his country for two months but he had no money to pay for the ticket and other expenses.
Mark's lawyer Sudhir Badetia said they arranged money for his return to his home. He had to deposit Rs 12,000 for overstaying in the country after the expiry of his visa and work permit, besides Rs 30,000 for his flight ticket. We also paid him Rs 4,000 for his own journey expenses. Mark left by promising to come back as the court had given him only two months' permission.
An emotional Mark, who is now 38, said: "I don't know whether my family members would be able to recognise me as they will be seeing me after 15 long years." He broke down when he said: "I will never see my mother who died a few months back."
