'Born Behind Bars, Still Fighting For Freedom': The Unending Struggle Of Buldhana's Jail-Born Man

Mumbai: Thirty years after his birth inside the Buldhana district prison, Sunil Ghule’s battle for dignity and basic rights is far from over. What began as a fight to correct a single word—“Jail”—on his birth certificate has now turned into a plea for his right to live with dignity, free from social stigma. Despite the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) acknowledging the injustice and ordering compensation, Ghule continues to face rejection—not only from authorities this time but also from his own village.

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Sunil’s story traces back to 1995, when his mother, an undertrial prisoner in an attempted murder case, gave birth to him inside Buldhana District Jail. His father, Nivrutti Ghule, was also lodged in the same prison. “I was born to my mother while she was under trial. My birth took place inside the Buldhana Jail,” Ghule says quietly. His mother, accused alongside his father, was eventually acquitted. But the stigma of his birth never left him. When Ghule obtained his birth certificate years later, it recorded his birthplace as “Buldhana Jail.”

That single word, he says, destroyed every opportunity that came his way. “It followed me like a curse—in schools, in job interviews, everywhere,” he recalls. In 2023, Ghule approached the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) seeking correction of his birth records. The Commission’s order, dated May 3, 2024, became a landmark in recognising the emotional and constitutional weight of his fight.

Referring to the Maharashtra Prison Manual, the Commission observed that “births in prison shall be registered at the local birth registration office, but the fact that the child was born in a prison should not be recorded in the birth register.” Holding the authorities responsible, the Commission stated: “Even if the mother of the child is in jail at the time of delivery, the word ‘Jail’ should not appear on the birth certificate. Because of the mistake on the part of the authority, the complainant suffered for years—losing opportunities and dignity.”

The Commission not only directed the correction of Ghule’s birth certificate— now showing the name of his native village—but also ordered the state authorities to pay him Rs3 lakh compensation for the “mental torture and loss of livelihood” he suffered. Ghule’s moment of justice was short-lived. The State government challenged the Commission’s order in the Bombay High Court, arguing that he “was not in need of financial assistance” and had failed to provide documentary proof of mental and financial suffering.

The legal battle, Ghule says, has left him exhausted and hopeless. “I have lost faith in the system. The same State that wronged me for three decades now says I don’t deserve justice,” he laments. “I will argue my own case before the High Court. I don’t trust anyone anymore.” Even after his birthplace was corrected, Ghule says he continues to live as a social outcast. In his village of Nandura, Buldhana district, residents refuse to let him build a house or work. “The entire village has condemned me,” he says.

“I don’t get any job. They say I am born in jail, so I must be a criminal too. Even marriage proposals disappear once people know my background.” “I just want my fundamental right—the right to live,” he says. “I want the government to rehabilitate me in another village, somewhere I can live like a normal human being, without my past haunting my future.” Ghule’s case raises uncomfortable questions about how deeply bureaucratic indifference can scar a life.

A clerical error, perpetuated for decades, has denied him education, employment, and dignity—rights guaranteed by the Constitution itself. While the MSHRC tried to heal that wound with words of empathy and legal redress, the State’s challenge has reopened it—leaving Sunil in yet another limbo. “I was born in jail,” he says, “but it feels like I have never been freed.”

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