Sonia Gandhi carried lunch for Australian prisoner in Tihar Jail, memoir says
The former Prime Minister's daughter-in-law brought food for an accomplice of Charles Sobhraj during the 1978 Christmas period.
Sonia Gandhi carried a home-cooked lunch to Tihar Jail for her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, on Christmas Day 1978, according to a report by The Times of India. The incident is detailed in Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, which was released on November 10.
The former Prime Minister was in jail during the week the Janata Party came to power following the elections after the Emergency. Sonia Gandhi wrote that she visited the jail daily during that time.
At the request of Indira Gandhi, the meal was prepared to include enough food for three female guards and a young Australian woman prisoner in the compound. Sonia Gandhi identified the prisoner as an accomplice of Charles Sobhraj, who was convicted for multiple murders of young tourists in Thailand, Nepal, and India.
The menu was changed to roast chicken after it was discovered the Australian woman did not eat ham. Sonia Gandhi also brought a book and cards from the children to the jail.
The memoir notes that Indira Gandhi had previously sent a note stating that Sonia Gandhi should not deliver the lunch and should instead eat with Rajiv Gandhi and the children. However, Sonia Gandhi wrote that she could not do that and went to the jail anyway.
Indira Gandhi was released from Tihar Jail the following day.