This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Behind The Beautiful Forevers" by Katherine Boo. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Why is Abdul in legal limbo in the book Behind the Beautiful Forevers? How did Abdul get out of jail?
Abdul got out of jail after a judge ruled that he was not a flight risk and could live at home until his trial. Abdul waited for months and never got any clarity on when his trial would begin. He has been condemned to the legal limbo of awaiting trial forever.
Read on to discover why Abdul is stuck in legal limbo.
Kehkashan, Abdul, and Karam in Jail
Kehkashan was sent to a women’s jail, Karam to the Arthur Road jail, and Abdul to a juvenile detention facility. In India, those who couldn’t pay for jail bonds could be held for years before facing trial. Zehrunisa had trouble providing collateral to pay for jail bonds to get her three family members out. Most of the things of value her husband owned were in his name only. She sold the back room of their hut, and she considered selling more, like the garbage storeroom. Zehrunisa also visited numerous relatives in the city to ask for money for bail, but few were willing to support her. She even tried approaching the family of a woman she hoped would be Abdul’s fiancée, but they were also unsympathetic, and the marriage would likely be called off due to the accusations against Abdul.
At first, Abdul was to be sent to the same adult jail as his father, but Zehrunisa paid a bribe to a local school to falsify a school record for Abdul, showing that he was 16. She didn’t know his age because families that were struggling to survive didn’t often have those records.
In Abdul’s juvenile jail, most of the kids were Muslim. Muslims were generally overrepresented in India’s criminal detention system. Conditions at the jail were poor. The kids got to exercise for an hour in the morning and were supposed to receive educational instruction the rest of the day, but instead were usually sent back to their cells.
One day, however, a teacher gave a special presentation. He talked about how some of the children in the jail had done bad things and would continue on this negative path their whole lives. But he presented an alternative: If the boys chose to walk a more virtuous path and reform themselves, they would have better lives, and justice would come to them in time.
Prior to this speech, Abdul wanted desperately to confess to hurting Fatima, even though he was innocent, because most of the boys at the jail thought that confessing to a crime would allow you to go home. But upon hearing this teacher’s presentation, he resolved to take a virtuous path and not relent, which meant sticking to the truth even if he couldn’t get out of jail sooner and his family’s finances suffered while he couldn’t work.
Abdul’s Release
A judge ruled that Abdul wasn’t a flight risk and could live at home until his trial as long as he promised to check in with the jail three days per week.
Zehrunisa filled in Abdul on her struggle to raise money to get them out of jail. Karam, Abdul’s father, was not allowed medicine for his tuberculosis in the prison, and his health was failing. Kehkashan, Abdul’s sister, seemed to be in good spirits because her jail had relatively good conditions. Zehrunisa didn’t know when any of their trials would be, but she’d now secured a lawyer to argue their case.
She also told Abdul that his trash business had collapsed in his absence. His brother Mirchi had tried to run the business, but most of the scavengers ended up selling their goods to another trash collector instead. Abdul decided to restart his business, but he felt determined to walk a virtuous path as he’d learned at the jail. This meant not buying stolen materials from the scavengers and being okay with the income he’d earn from running his business three fewer days per week to meet the jail’s check-in requirement.
Abdul’s Legal Limbo
While Abdul was in juvenile jail, Zehrunisa had sold his garbage shed to help cover the family’s expenses. Since his release, Abdul had rented a hut in a different part of town to run his business. But he struggled to make money there because the trash pickers in that area already had preferred buyers. He decided to give up this hut, and he drove his family’s van around the state offering to transport recyclables to the appropriate facilities for a fee.
He still had to check in at the jail three days per week to prove he hadn’t fled. Traveling to the jail required taking a whole day, so he only worked four days per week and couldn’t earn as much income as he used to.
Zehrunisa tried to get some clarity on when he would stand trial. When she inquired at the juvenile court about the case, she was told the trial would begin within one to three months. After 15 months went by, Zehrunisa and Abdul were convinced that he was being condemned to the legal limbo of awaiting trial forever.
Despite Abdul’s inability to work a full schedule, his family hoped they would qualify for one of the apartments that would be provided to slum dwellers as part of the razing plans. Additionally, his other siblings were helping support the household by working temporary jobs.
After the special visit from the teacher to the boys’ prison, Abdul had resolved to live a more virtuous life. If most people were like water, he wanted to be like ice—made of the same substance, but elevated above others by how he lived. But as Abdul’s legal limbo dragged on, and his trial wasn’t scheduled, he became more disillusioned. He told Allah that being in legal limbo was making the ice inside him to melt, and he was becoming water, just like everyone else because of how the world worked: No matter how much he tried to do the right thing and get ahead, he couldn’t.
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Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Katherine Boo's "Behind The Beautiful Forevers" at Shortform .
Here's what you'll find in our full Behind The Beautiful Forevers summary :
- A nonfiction account of the lives of residents of in one Mumbai slum
- How the globalized world affects many people in India
- A story of poverty, exploitation, and the struggle to survive
