UP's oldest prisoner dies at 107 years

Ram Kali, 107, Uttar Pradesh's oldest prisoner, died late Sunday at the Bulandshahr jail, 403 km from here, police said.

Prison officials said the aged inmate was rushed to Meerut Medical College for treatment after she complained of breathlessness. She passed away there, of complications related to advanced age.

Originally a resident of Khanpur village of the Mansoori area in Ghaziabad, neighbouring New Delhi, Ram Kali had moved to a relative's house in Bulandshahr after her husband passed away 2002. The relative was later accused of killing his wife for dowry, and Ram Kali was also made an accused in the case. She briefly went to prison and was let out on bail.

She was however sent to jail again December 2012, after a court found her guilty in the dowry case.

She was serving her sentence at Bulandshahr jail.

The prison superintendent had recommended, some time back, that she be pardoned and freed, on account on her age. Officials at the prison headquarters said the petition was under consideration.

There are hundreds of aged prisoners languishing in prisons across Uttar Pradesh. Prisons Minister Rajendra Chowdhary recently said that the state government would initiate a process to allow those who were old or ailing freedom, once they serve out a major part of their sentence.