Bengaluru: Walking out after spending 19 days in Bengaluru Central Prison in a case of alleged assault at a Bengaluru institute where he was learning the English language, Japanese student Hirotoshi Tanaka encountered more battles on Indian soil.Tanaka informed the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) that he did not understand the sections under which he had been booked or even basic legal terms. Inside the prison, inmates and jail staff helped him. One of the prisoners, Shankar, a murder convict, became close to him. Tanaka is 43 now.Tanaka challenged criminal proceedings in the Karnataka high court. After the English learning academy chief agreed to settle the dispute, the court quashed criminal proceedings on Nov 2, 2020. Rather than leave India, Tanaka decided to pursue his complaint against the police before the KSHRC.By then, his immigration status had also become a problem as his visa had expired. After the high court quashed the case, Foreigners Regional Registration Office directed him to leave India by Feb 28, 2021.As the deadline approached, Tanaka came up with a plan to avoid leaving India: Around 1am, he entered the JC Nagar police station, stole a plastic chair. He photographed himself with it.Reason: Tanaka believed an arrest for the minor offence would allow him to remain in India while his human-rights complaint was pending. But the plan miserably failed. Tanaka was eventually deported to Japan in 2021.On May 9, 2022, the KSHRC ruled in Tanaka’s favour, holding that police failed to justify his arrest, recommended Rs 75,000 compensation, disciplinary proceedings against the police officer and recovery of the amount from the officer.It recommended guidelines for police dealing with foreign nationals and illiterate persons during arrests. When the recommendations were not implemented, Tanaka approached the Karnataka high court in Sept 2022 seeking enforcement.In April this year, the state told the high court Rs 75,000 would be transferred through Tanaka’s advocate and disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against Hanumantharayappa (SI).The money was finally paid in June. Tanaka is unable to visit India as he is blacklisted following his deportation in 2021. Tanaka wants to return, particularly to visit his Indian wife’s hometown in the Northeast.
