DLSA aids freed Thai woman to return home

“Patcharut Punsakon from Thailand was convicted for smuggling heroin and served 10 years in prison. After coming out of jail in 2019, she couldn’t get back her passport. She filed a petition with the DLSA, and we have taken necessary steps to secure her passport enabling her to return home,” said the District Legal Services Authority Secretary, I Jayanthi.

Patcharut tried to smuggle around 5 kg of heroin to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Chennai International Airport when she was arrested by police officials on April 29, 2008.

Eventually, she was convicted by a special court under various sections of the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and Section 135(1)(a)(ii) of the Customs Act.

“DLSA filed the petition before the concerned court to return the document. After observing all the legal formalities, the passport was returned to her. Thereafter, we also contacted the Thailand Consulate and appealed the officials to issue a valid passport and communicated with the relevant departments for repatriation since she is an ‘overstayer’,” the DLSA secretary said.

“When we handed over her passport, she told us that she is rushing back to her country to see her young daughter,” Jayanthi added.