Chennai:
A last-minute hitch over his bail means that Will Heum will not leave a Chennai prison after all. Heum, a Dutch citizen who moved to Tamil Nadu in 1991, has been accused of kidnapping children to sexually abuse them, committing unnatural sexual offences and posting child pornography on the internet.
Speaking to NDTV, Heum disclosed, "I have no fund to pay the surety. I am afraid that the police may file another charge against me and the past several days I have not been able to contact my lawyer. I have an old mother in Netherlands and I don't want to disturb her."
Heum was granted bail in this case six weeks ago. His lawyers were initially unable to find the money for his one-lakh bail. Then, suddenly came the news that shocked Chennai and its child rights activists on Thursday - that Heum had collected the money, and that there was a strong chance that he would soon be free.
However, the court hearing Heum's case objected to the fact that Heum's bail money was being supplied by his landlord, who is also a witness in the case.
Six years ago, Heum was accused of sexually abusing young boys at an orphanage run by him in Tamil Nadu. What angers activists is that he was on bail in that case, when he was arrested for child pornography.
The fact that Heum will find it difficult to get bail comes as a huge relief for the Chennai police, accused by many of mishandling the case. After arresting him for child pornography in November, the police did not file a chargesheet against him within the required 90-day period, so Heum was automatically granted bail. The only reason he did not leave jail is because he didn't have the money and a surety for his bail. That's when his landlord stepped in. Heum's lawyer says he can get another surety in a few days. Meanwhile the Chief of the Chennai Cyber Crime Cell Dr Sudhakar has told NDTV that his team has "marshalled strong evidence against Heum, enough to get a conviction in about 6 months."