Journalists document lives of women in Tihar

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Wednesday released In Custody,a book on the lives of women in Tihar,at the Indian Women’s Press Corps in the city. The book is a collaborative effort by two women journalists — The Indian Express photographer Renuka Puri and freelance journalist Amba Batra Bakshi,who has earlier worked for The Indian Express and The Guardian.

Speaker Meira Kumar said the book could not be classified into any genre. “When I went through the book,I was struck by the narrative of the women — their trauma of deprivation and loss of hope,” she said. “This book shakes you up and disturbs you.” Bakshi,recipient of a Press Institute of India award in 2004,talked about her experience of spending a year in Tihar. “A majority of the women are undertrials; this is an attempt to share their pain.”