A man who had spent the last 50 years in jail without being charged was freed Thursday by the Magistrate's Court in Kurunegala, about 96 km northeast of the SriLankan capital Colombo, officials said.
The police authorities said the Kurunegala Magistrate released James on Thursday as the police told the court that not enough evidence was available for the police to press charges against D. P.James, now 80 years old.
James was only 30 years old when he was remanded in 1958 for stabbing and wounding his father.
He was then sent to the Bogambara remand prison in Kurunegala area but no proper charges had been framed against him delaying the legal action against him.
Prison authorities had sent him to a mental hospital near Colombo for treatment and forgotten about him for nearly 30 years.
He had been then taken back to the remand prison where he had spent the last 20 years and in all that time he had not been produced in court.
Prisons officials said it was now not possible to trace any document regarding his case or why he was admitted to a mental hospital.
Considering the plight of James, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse granted him a compensation payment of 500,000 rupees (about 4500 U.S. dollars) last month.
Source: Xinhua
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