Summary 40-year-old woman Irom Sharmila who has not eaten a meal in 12 years is force fed through tube.
NEW DELHI (AP) - Irom Sharmila has not eaten a meal in 12 years. The 40-year-old woman has been on a hunger strike and force fed through a tube by authorities to protest an Indian law that suspends many human rights protections in areas of conflict.
Sharmila was charged Monday with attempted suicide in a case likely to bring major attention to her quiet protest in the tiny northeastern state of Manipur against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Under the law, in effect in Indian-ruled Kashmir and parts of the country s northeast, troops have the right to shoot to kill suspected rebels without fear of possible prosecution and to arrest suspected militants without a warrant. It also gives police wide-ranging powers of search and seizure.
Dubbed the "Iron Lady" by her supporters, Sharmila has become a rallying point for those demanding the law s repeal.
Sharmila had her last voluntary meal on Nov. 4, 2000, in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, one of several northeastern states facing insurgencies.
She was arrested three days later and has been force fed through a tube in her nose ever since. Under law, she has to be released once a year to see if she will start eating. When she doesn t, she is taken back into custody and force fed.
The current charges stem from a 2006 protest she attended in New Delhi. Police took her from the protest venue, hospitalized her and registered a case of attempted suicide against her.
Magistrate Akash Jain charged her Monday with attempted suicide. Appearing in court with her nose tube in place, she pleaded not guilty.
"I love life. I do not want to take my life, but I want justice and peace," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted her as saying in court, which she attended after flying in from Manipur over the weekend.
Jain set her trial for May 22. If convicted, she faces one year in prison.
She remained unbowed as she left the courtroom.
"I will continue my fast until the special powers act is withdrawn," she said.
Sharmila s supporters held a demonstration outside the court demanding the repeal of the act.
"The Indian army should leave Manipur state and authorities should withdraw all the cases against her," said one protester, Sucheta Dey.
Human rights workers have accused Indian troops of using the law to detain, torture and kill rebel suspects, sometimes even staging gun battles as pretexts to kill.
The army opposes any weakening of the act, saying it needs extraordinary powers to deal with insurgents.
