Ynet learned on Monday that an Israeli backpacker arrested in India on suspicion of attempting to smuggle narcotics fled the detention center she was held in.
The backpacker was arrested five months ago after being caught at the Bombay airport with 10 kg (22 pounds) of marijuana. She was then transferred to a local detention center, and police continued the search for her alleged Israeli handler.
Meanwhile, the woman’s physical condition began to deteriorate; she became sick and was eventually evacuated to a hospital in the city, from which she escaped last Thursday. Her whereabouts are currently unknown, but it is estimated that she is hiding out somewhere in India or perhaps even in Nepal.
About a year ago an Israeli detainee in India managed to escape by breaking through the steel bars of a local hospital’s bathroom window.
'Her good nature got her in trouble'
Yoana Maoz, 30, another Israeli doing time in a Bombay jail, was arrested in May 2005 after a large quantity of hashish was found in her belongings during a routine search at the airport.
Maoz’s associates said Israeli authorities have been reluctant to assist in her release or help bringing the court hearing on her matter forward. The Foreign Ministry said in response that the consul general in India is in contact with Moaz and is working to improve her prison conditions. In recent weeks her friends in Israel have been trying to help her privately, but to no avail.
“Yoana never did drugs, and she was certainly never involved in drug trafficking,” one friend said. “It seems that this time her good nature got her in trouble. Her arrest was not carried out by the book either; Indian law requires the presence of two witnesses during the arrest, but during her arrest there were only police officers present.”
Prisoners in India are required to pay for part of their stay in jail, and due to the fact that Maoz’s parents are in a dire economic situation, her friends are organizing a benefit and are calling on the public to help financially and in other ways so she may be acquitted and subsequently released.