Mariam Rasheeda rues her ‘lost reputation’

After 30 years of suffering, justice means nothing, says Maldivian portrayed as spy in ISRO case

Harrowing memories of torture in the custody of the Kerala Police refuse to leave Mariam Rasheeda, a Maldivian woman, three decades after her incarceration and subsequent release in the infamous ISRO espionage case. She bursts out in rage over her lost reputation the moment one refers the ISRO case to her. “There is no meaning for justice in this case. After 30 years of suffering, it does not mean anything to us. I lost my reputation at a young age. No compensation can restore it,” said Ms. Rasheeda, who was portrayed as a spy woman in the ISRO espionage case, told The Hindu from Maldives. “Can the Supreme Court restore my reputation? What about the reputation of my family and my country, which was destroyed by the media and Kerala Police? Can any compensation restore the reputation of ISRO scientists Nambi Narayanan and Sasikumar,” asks Ms. Rasheeda against the backdrop of the Supreme Court order asking the CBI to look into the D.K. Jain report on Kerala Police framing the space scientists in the espionage case.