LETTER FROM NEW DELHI

Valentin Hénault arrived in India on August 10, 2023, planning to stay for two months. The 29-year-old student of film- and documentary-making at Paris-Diderot University − who had already made his first short film, L'Homme du sous-sol ("The Man in the Basement") − was planning to make a film about atrocities committed against Dalit women. His stay there quickly turned into a nightmare.

Over the course of two months, from Jharkhand to Bihar, he had gone from village to village meeting Dalit families − Indians regarded as being from the bottom of the social hierarchy − before continuing his research in October in Uttar Pradesh. As the end of his stay approached, he booked his return flight to France for October 19, 2023, where he hoped to secure financing and a production company before returning to India to make his documentary.

On October 10, 2023, in Gorakhpur, a demonstration − "the Ambedkar people's march" − was held by peasant women demanding land for the Dalits. Hénault cautiously observed from the sidelines, aware of the town's reputation.

Gorakhpur is famous for being home to a Hindu monastery of the Nath Yogi religious movement, led by the state's head of government, Yogi Adityanath. This fundamentalist monk − not only a religious but also a political figure, a member of the Indian People's Party (BJP) − has been known for his crusades against Muslim and Christian minorities and Dalits. He belongs to the high caste of the Thakur and rules his state with an iron fist, imprisoning opponents and demonstrators in the name of law and order.

Hénault arrived around midday at the march, in which 5,000 people took part. A speaker at the podium recognized him and mentioned his name in welcoming international observers. A few minutes later, Hénault was surrounded by local intelligence agents. Around 30 members of the rally were arrested.

Following a few routine questions, the young man was let go. On the way back to his hotel, he noticed some people on motorcycles. "Strange," he said to himself. At 7 pm, police officers showed up outside his room and took him to a police station. After repeated questioning, fingerprinting and a medical examination, Hénault spent his first night at the station. He managed to send messages on his cell phone to the French Embassy, explaining his situation and asking for help. The embassy provided him with the contact details of a lawyer.

The police accused him of "violation of visa conditions" under section 14b of the Foreign Act, a crime punishable in India by five years' imprisonment. They claimed that the young man had specified on his visa application a reference contact in Dhanbad and was therefore not allowed to leave Jharkhand. The accusation was entirely far-fetched, as his business e-visa, valid for one year, had no geographic restrictions.

You have 51.33% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.